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AUTHOR   IN    INTERIOR  TRAVELLING  COSTUME, 

VENEZUELA. 
Frontispiece. 


With  the  Trade-Winds 

A  Jaunt  in  Venezuela  and 
the  West  Indies 


Bv 
IRR  NELSON  MORRIS 

(Second  Edition) 


"  The  benefit  of  travel  comes  not  from  the  distance 
traversed,  nor  from  the  scenes  reflected  on  the  retina, 
but  from  the  intellectual  stimulus  thus  awakened, 
and  the  amount  of  thought  and  reading  which  re- 
sults therefrom.  .  .  .  Expansion,  growth,  broader 
experience  and  wider  charity,  these  are  the  fruits  of 
that  real  travel  which  is  of  the  mind." 

J.  L.  STODDARD 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
New  York  and  London 

1597 


COPYRIGHT,  1896 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


Ube  •fcntcfcer&ocftet  f>teset  Hew  Korfc 


DEDICATED 

TO  MY  BELOVED  FAMILY 
AND  TO  MY  FRIEND  AND  TRAVELLING 

COMPANION 
THE  MARQUIS  OF  MONTELO 


2054654 


PREFATORY 

""THE  desire  to  impart  to  my  readers 
*  some  elementary  knowledge  of  a 
South  American  region  of  which  but 
little  has  ever  been  written  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  has  led  to  this  small  volume. 
It  gives  a  desultory  account  of  what  I 
saw  and  heard,  together  with  personal 
experiences  during  a  recent  winter  tour 
among  the  West  India  Islands  and  in 
Venezuela. 

I  wish  to  express  my  grateful  thanks 
to  my  kind  friend,  the  Marquis  Mon- 
telo,  whose  companionship  contributed 
so  much  to  fill  the  tour  with  profitable 
knowledge  as  well  as  with  interest  and 
pleasure. 

IRA  NELSON  MORRIS. 

CHICAGO,  1896. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I. — OUTWARD  BOUND  x 

II. — ON  SHIPBOARD    ....  5 

III. — STROLLS  IN  ST.  THOMAS     .        .  9 

IV. — A  NIGHT  OF  ROMANCE  IN  THE 

INDIES 15 

V. — SANTA    CRUZ,    AN    ISLAND    OF 

PLANTATIONS    ....  20 

VI. — A  FIELD-DAY  IN  ST.  KITT'S      .  26 

VII. — ENSEMBLE 33 

VIII. — ANTIGUA — AN    OUTING    IN    THE 

MOUNTAINS      ....  36 

IX. — MARTINIQUE,    A    FRENCH    MIN- 
IATURE IN  THE  TROPICS  .        .  39 

X. — ST.  LUCIA,   A  FORMER  GIBRAL- 
TAR OF  THE  WEST  INDIES         .  45 

XI. — BARBADOES,  AN  ENGLISH    COL- 
ONY UP  TO  DATE       ...  52 

XII. — A  GLIMPSE  OF  GRENADA  61 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XIII. — TRINIDAD — FIRST  GLIMPSES     .      65 

XIV.  — TRINIDAD— WANDERINGS  ABOUT 

PORT  AU  SPAIN      ...      71 

XV. — TRINIDAD,    A    MINIATURE    OF 

HINDUSTAN     ....      78 

XVI. — CURASAO,   THE    HOLLAND    OF 

THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS      .        .      85 

XVII. — LA  GUAYRA — FIRST  SCENES  IN 

VENEZUELA     ....      90 

XVIII. — MACUTO,    THE   NEWPORT    OF 

VENEZUELA     ....      97 

XIX. — CARACAS,  A  CAPITAL  IN  THE 

VENEZUELAN  ANDES       .        .     103 

XX. — CARACAS — REFLECTIONS  ON  THE 

PAST  AND  PRESENT        .        .     113 

XXI. — RAILROADING  IN  VENEZUELA    .     123 

XXII.— VALENCIA  AND  PUERTO  CABELLO 
— FROM  THE  MOUNTAINS  TO 
THE  SEA  .  .  .  .131 

XXIII. — LAKE  MARACAIBO  TO  THE  ORI- 
NOCO— ALONG  THE  SPANISH 
MAIN 140 

XXIV. — THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY      .     148 
XXV. — DREAMS  OF  THE  FUTURE         .     154 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


AUTHOR  IN  INTERIOR  TRAVELLING  COS- 
TUME, VENEZUELA    .        .         Frontispiece 

TO  FACK 
PACK 

CHARLOTTE    AMALIA,    CAPITAL   OF   ST. 

THOMAS 8 

A  PLANTATION  HOUSE,  SANTA  CRUZ  .  20 
CAVALRY  IN  ST.  KITT'S  ...  30 

IN   THE    MARKET-PLACE,    ST.    JOHN'S, 

ANTIGUA  .        .       .       .       .        .36 

A  FRENCH  CREOLE,  MARTINIQUE  .  .  42 
A  BELLE  OF  ST.  LUCIA  ....  50 
TRAFALGAR  SQUARE,  BARBADOES  .  .  54 

PUBLIC  SQUARE,  PORT  AU  SPAIN,  TRINI- 
DAD .        .        ...        .        .66 

COOLIE  BARBERS,  TRINIDAD    ...      72 

HINDU  RELIGIOUS  CEREMONY,  TRINIDAD      82 

ix 


X  ILLUSTRATIONS  TO  PACE 

PAGE 

A  TROPICAL  ISLAND  SCENE  ...  86 
CARACAS,  VENEZUELA — GENERAL  VIEW  .  106 
PRESIDENT  CRESPO,  OF  VENEZUELA  .  112 
RAILROADING  IN  VENEZUELA  .  .  .124 

CARIB  INDIANS,  ORINOCO  DISTRICT,  VEN- 
EZUELA     .  .     .    .'•  .        .        .        .    144 

A  TROPICAL  FOREST,  VENEZUELA  .  .  146 
AMONG  THE  BAMBOOS,  VENEZUELA  .  148 


WITH  THE  TRADE-WINDS 


I. 

OUTWARD    BOUND 

ON  a  very  cold  day  in  December  I 
stood  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer 
Madiana  as  she  slowly  pushed  her  way 
through  the  ice   toward   the    Narrows 
below  New  York. 

After  leaving  the  luxurious  Waldorf 
to  face  the  biting  cold  winds  and  ac- 
commodate one's  self  to  the  surround- 
ings which  the  steamer  affords,  I  must 
say  I  did  not  wonder  at  my  friends 
asking  how  I  could  choose  to  take  such 
an  out-of-the-way  sort  of  trip.  Not 
that  the  Madiana  is  an  uncomfortable 
boat,  for  that  would  be  doing  it  an  in- 
justice, but  I  anticipated  a  second  Ma- 
jestic or  Teutonic,  and  in  this  I  was 
disappointed. 


2  VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

At  half-past  five  the  familiar  gong 
one  hears  on  shipboard  announced  din- 
ner. My  place  was  at  the  right  of  our 
good  captain,  Mr.  Fraser.  Next  to  me 
sat  Mr.  Maynard,  of  New  York,  while 
opposite  sat  Count  Bismarck,  of  Ger- 
many, one  of  the  younger  generation 
of  that  celebrated  name.  It  was  not 
long  before  the  captain  and  the  gentle- 
man whom  hereafter  I  shall  call  our 
friend  Maynard  began  a  conversation 
which  at  once  showed  how  well  both 
were  acquainted  with  the  places  we 
were  leaving  home  comforts  to  visit, 
and  how  much  profit  might  be  derived 
from  their  companionship. 

Our  captain,  a  short,  stout  fellow,  was 
the  typical  sea-dog.  His  appearance 
would  answer  to  the  description  of  the 
hero  in  almost  any  sea-faring  romance. 
It  was  now  Friday,  and  he  informed 
us  it  would  be  Tuesday  evening  of  the 
next  week  before  we  should  reach  St. 
Thomas,  our  first  stopping-place,  and 


OUTWARD    BOUND  3 

only  one  island  of  twelve  that  we  were 
going  to  visit  on  our  way  to  Venezuela, 
before  the  boat  would  again  turn  toward 
the  cold  north. 

At  first  some  of  the  ladies  looked  a 
little  "  home-sick,"  but  as  time  ad- 
vanced the  salon  assumed  a  cheerful 
aspect,  and  we  began  to  notice  our 
companions  for  the  next  few  weeks. 
Acquaintance  is  soon  made  at  sea  ;  and 
by  the  fourth  day  out,  partly  through 
good  jokes,  but  mainly  through  our 
amiable  captain,  everybody  knew  every- 
body, and  the  best  of  fellowship  pre- 
vailed. About  the  third  day  people 
began  discarding  their  winter  garments, 
and  on  the  fourth  I  strolled  about  in 
tennis  flannels  and  a  straw  hat. 

One  evening  after  dinner,  as  I  walked 
the  deck  in  a  dreamy  mood,  thinking  of 
the  far-away  countries  I  was  about  to 
visit,  I  observed  a  charming  girl  of  about 
twenty  seated  comfortably  on  a  steamer 
lounge ;  this  fair  maiden,  with  the 


4          VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

moon's  soft  rays  about  her,  added  new 
lustre  to  the  surroundings.  The  smoke 
from  my  pipe  circled  in  graceful  wreaths, 
drawing  me  into  a  state  of  reminis- 
cence, and  soon  my  thoughts  wan- 
dered into  strange  lands,  carrying  with 
them  fanciful  pictures  of  what  a  south- 
ward trip  might  be  in  the  company  of 
one  so  gracious,  who  should  share  my 
travels  and  my  experiences.  Such  were 
my  first  dreams  in  the  tropics  ;  and  a 
few  nights  later  I  was  happy  to  find 
them  not  evanescent,  like  the  smoke 
from  my  pipe,  and  blown  away  forever, 
but  reappearing  in  all  their  beauty  in 
actual  life. 


II. 


ON   SHIPBOARD 

PHE  Tropics  breed  romance.     Some- 

*       thing  in  the  air  seems  to  stimulate 

one  to  adventure  and  awaken  that  spirit 

of  sentiment  which  burns  dimly  in  all 

of  us. 

Imagine  coasting  the  luxuriant  islands 
of  the  Indies  with  a  mellow  moon  to 
cast  the  shadows  of  another  world 
across  your  mind  and  to  awaken  the 
fondest  dreams  of  youth  into  reality 
It  was  on  such  a  night  as  this  that  we 
sat  on  the  aft  deck  telling  stories  of  ad- 
venture. All  were  listening  to  a  bit  of 
the  early  life  and  struggles  of  the  Indies, 
which  the  captain  related  somewhat  as 
follows  : 


6          VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

"  From  the  time  when  Columbus  first 
landed  on  Salvador,  and  the  wealth  and 
beauty  of  the  islands  were  reported 
abroad,  it  was  not  very  long  before 
other  adventurous  Europeans  discovered 
many  other  islands  in  the  neighborhood, 
equally  beautiful  and  even  larger  than 
that  which  Columbus  found.  Some  of 
the  expeditions  sent  over  from  Europe 
were  for  military  glory  and  the  gain  of 
new  territory  ;  some  were  parties  ar- 
rayed by  rich  and  venturesome  nobles 
in  England,  France,  and  other  countries. 
It  was  by  means  of  these  expeditions 
that  the  great  groups  of  islands  known 
to  us  as  the  Indies  fell  into  the  hands 
of  European  nations. 

"  Not  to  say,"  continued  the  captain, 
"  that  you  are  to  understand  each  expe- 
dition coming  over  had  only  to  plant  a 
flag  and  the  island  was  theirs  ;  no,  in- 
deed !  They  first  had  to  fight  and 
conquer  the  native  Indians  or  Caribs. 
Then  they  were  constantly  fighting 


ON    SHIPBOARD  1 

among  themselves  as  to  who  first  dis- 
covered the  place  and  whether  it  should 
belong  to  France,  Spain,  England,  or 
some  other  country  that  was  sending 
out  expeditions  at  the  time. 

"  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  take  away 
the  islands  from  the  Indians.  The 
Caribs  were  a  powerful  people,  supposed 
to  have  crossed  over  from  South  Amer- 
ica. The  conquest  of  a  people  like  this 
on  their  own  territory  and  knowing 
every  inch  of  the  ground  was  no  easy 
task. 

"  Many  are  the  cruel  stories  told  of 
fights  and  hardships  endured  by  these 
gentlemen,  who  left  their  native  homes 
in  search  of  gold  and  glory. 

"  Well,  as  now  I  hear  the  coxswain 
strike  four  bells,  I  must  go  and  prepare 
for  an  early  rise,  for  by  to-morrow  even- 
ing if  all  is  smooth  sailing,  I  mean  to 
drop  anchor  in  St.  Thomas,  our  first 
stopping-place." 

I  did  not  care  to  follow  the  example 


8          VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

of  the  rest  of  the  party  by  saying 
good-night,  but  arm  in  arm  with  my 
fair  companion,  whom  I  met  in  a 
very  romantic  way, — as  my  dream  itself 
had  indicated — we  strolled  the  deck 
until  the  night-watch  was  relieved,  for 
it  was  one  of  those  beautiful  nights  on 
the  sea  when  the  faint  silvery  bell  struck 
by  the  sailor  on  the  bridge  expresses 
no  idea  as  regards  time.  Surrounded 
by  such  scenes  and  amid  such  circum- 
stances time  is  measured  only  by  one's 
impulses  and  emotions. 


III. 

STROLLS    IN    ST.   THOMAS 

IT  was  growing  dark.  One  by  one 
*  the  silver  stars  peeped  out  of  the 
blue  firmament,  and  the  great  moon 
silently  cast  her  silver  rays  upon  the 
dark  waters.  In  the  quiet  and  peace  of 
this  summer  night  there  stretched  be- 
fore us  the  beautiful  harbor  of  the  small 
Danish  island  of  St.  Thomas. 

Off  in  the  background,  reaching  half 
way  up  the  mountain  side,  like  mill- 
ions of  fireflies,  rested  the  capital  and 
only  city,  Charlotte  Amalia. 

On   entering  the  bay  we  noticed  a 

German  man-of-war  at  anchor,  quietly 

riding  the  waves.     A  little  farther  on 

we  saw  two  French  cruisers  and  a  Span- 

9 


IO        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

ish  gunboat.  These  men-of-war,  repre- 
senting the  great  nations  of  the  world, 
seemed  to  add  importance  to  the  island, 
and  we  were  told  that  prior  to  the  last 
twenty  years,  before  Barbadoes  rose  into 
such  popularity,  this  small  island  of 
Denmark's  was  the  chief  coaling  station 
and  outfitting  place  for  those  boats  of 
the  world  which  found  themselves  in 
need  in  Southern  waters. 

A  few  more  turns  of  the  screw  and 
we  were  anchored  about  a  mile  away 
from  a  sort  of  pier  running  into  the 
water.  Leaning  over  the  rail  of  the 
Madiana  I  beheld  a  scene  of  commotion 
and  excitement.  About  a  hundred  small 
rough  boats  manned  by  strong  negroes 
of  the  island  were  crowding  around  the 
hull  of  our  great  boat,  looking  as  though 
any  moment  they  might  be  crushed  like 
egg-shells.  This  being  a  regular  occur- 
rence at  each  port  we  visited,  and  as  it 
was  a  striking  feature  of  the  trip,  I 
shall  describe  our  experience  with  these 
fellows. 


STROLLS   IN    ST.    THOMAS  II 

These  negroes  are  wonderfully  well 
built ;  it  is  a  pity  that  they  so  shun 
work.  Labor,  except  what  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity,  is,  in  their  eyes,  useless 
and  degrading.  Many  of  them  gain 
their  only  living  by  owning  a  clumsy 
boat  similar  to  the  many  which  I  have 
described  around  our  steamer.  With 
these  they  carry  passengers  to  and  from 
the  shore  when  a  steamer  is  in  harbor, 
and  during  the  many  other  days  they 
are  engaged  in  unloading  and  carrying 
freight  from  sailing  vessels  and  other 
freight  boats.  Their  cries  and  shouts 
to  passengers  on  the  steamer,  persuad- 
ing the  latter  to  take  boat  to  shore,  are 
much  worse  than  any  with  which  I  have 
ever  been  besieged  by  the  army  of  cab- 
men at  the  Grand  Central  Station  in 
New  York.  The  sight  of  these  fellows 
fighting  and  pushing  one  another  about 
in  their  boats,  made  one  think  what  a 
fine  foot-ball  team  they  would  make  to 
oppose  our  Yale  eleven. 

Col.  Maynard  and  I  did  not  take  din- 


12        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

ner  aboard  ship,  preferring  a  stroll  on 
land,  and  a  visit  to  one  of  the  hotels, 
situated  on  high  cliffs  overlooking  the 
sea.  On  arriving  ashore  we  seemed  to 
amuse  the  negroes  in  a  high  degree. 
These  simple-minded  people  are  indeed 
very  easily  amused,  but  let  me  remark 
that  there  is  this"  difference  between  the 
negro  of  the  West  Indies  and  his  brother 
of  the  States  :  the  former  has  learned 
that  his  position  is  not  like  that  of  the 
educated  white  man,  therefore  he  does 
not  presume  to  place  himself  on  the 
same  footing. 

It  is  needless  to  say  how  much  we 
enjoyed  our  first  dinner  in  the  Indies. 
Not  alone  was  the  food  delicious,  but 
it  was  a  rare  pleasure  to  sit  on  an  open 
verandah  overlooking  the  sea,  while  be- 
hind us  rose  the  great  volcanic  moun- 
tains. 

After  dinner  we  "  did  "  the  town.  One 
can  usually  gain  an  adequate  idea  of  a 
town  in  one  of  these  islands  by  walking 


STROLLS   IN   ST.   THOMAS  13 

down  the  main  business  street  and  ob- 
serving the  people,  the  shops,  and  the 
houses.  The  negroes  are  always  jolly 
and  laughing  :  this  is  the  only  side  of 
life  they  know  :  if  they  have  sufficient 
food  for  mere  existence  they  are  satis- 
fied. In  these  hot  climates  clothing  is 
dispensable. 

The  houses  and  shops  are  for  the 
most  part  built  in  one  story,  and  are 
constructed  chiefly  of  a  soft  native 
stone.  The  poorest  houses  are  framed 
by  poles  and  then  covered  over  with 
palm  leaves  stuck  together  with  mud, 
which  quickly  hardens  in  this  hot  cli- 
mate. 

The  few  foreign  residents,  who  form 
the  representative  and  best  element  in 
all  the  Islands,  have  their  homes  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  or  back  among 
the  hills,  where  they  enjoy  the  breeze 
of  the  trade-winds  and  a  cleanliness  not 
to  be  found  in  the  towns  themselves. 

In  the   general  market-place    loud- 


14       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

voiced  negroes,  both  men  and  women, 
offered  their  vegetables  and  wares  for 
sale.  The  fruits  which  grow  so  luxuri- 
antly on  the  Islands  are  most  tempt- 
ing, even  though  handled  by  the  dusky 
maid  of  Africa. 

Some  of  the  large  stores  and  ware- 
houses in  the  town  are  kept  by  foreign- 
ers who,  anxious  for  the  advantage  of 
trade,  endure  the  hot  climate  of  the 
island.  In  the  shops  one  can  find  most 
articles  of  manufacture  from  both  the 
United  States  and  Europe. 

We  spent  two  days  in  St.  Thomas, 
driving  about  the  island,  and  seeing 
many  queer  things. 

Just  as  the  twilight  fell  we  were  again 
rowed  to  the  Madiana.  All  was  quiet 
save  for  the  plaintive  voices  of  the  ne- 
groes singing  on  the  shore,  which  the 
wind  wafted  to  us  across  the  water. 
With  the  melody  echoing  in  the  dis- 
tance we  drifted  out  to  the  open  sea  on 
our  way  to  Santa  Cruz. 


IV. 

A  NIGHT  OF  ROMANCE  IN  THE  INDIES 

"  T  T  AVE  you  a  guitar  ? "  whispered  my 
*  *      fair  companion  as  we  mounted 
the  steps  from  the  salon. 

Our  boat  was  dreamily  skirting  the 
shore  of  the  beautiful  island  of  Tortola. 
The  silver  rays  of  the  moon  reflected 
on  the  waters  below  a  miniature  of 
mountains  clothed  in  rich  tropical  ver- 
dure. 

There  was  nothing  to  mar  the  quiet 
of  the  scene.  The  rippling  waves  played 
a  soft  accompaniment  to  the  sweet  voice 
of  my  friend.  We  were  lazily  reclining 
on  some  rugs  in  the  stern  of  the  boat. 
Lulled  by  the  sweet  voice  of  my  com- 
panion, and  the  faint  murmuring  of  the 
guitar,  I  felt  that  I  must  invent  a  story 
15 


l6       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

for  the  occasion — one  full  of  romance 
and  adventure. 

I  related  how  during  the  last  century, 
while  England  and  Spain  were  engaged 
in  bitter  war,  a  sweet  and  noble  girl  of 
Devonshire  was  kidnapped  by  some 
Spanish  brigands  after  a  severe  fight  in 
the  village.  She  was  taken  aboard  ship 
with  other  captives  to  be  borne  to  the 
West  Indies  to  serve  as  slaves  or  be 
treated  as  heretics  in  some  miserable 
monastery.  Among  those  engaged  in 
the  affray  and  left  seriously  wounded 
was  the  lover  of  this  girl, — a  hand- 
some, manly  fellow,  about  twenty-eight 
years  old.  Though  thinking  himself 
about  to  die,  the  hero  made  an  oath 
that  if  he  should  by  any  possibility  sur- 
vive, he  would  avenge  himself  on  those 
who  had  wrecked  his  happiness,  and 
spend  the  rest  of  his  days  in  seeking  her 
who  was  dearest  on  earth  to  him,  thus 
proving  that  honor  is  the  foundation  of 
an  Englishman's  code. 


A    ROMANTIC    EVENING  17 

Perched  on  the  high  cliffs  whose  rocks 
are  washed  by  the  blue  sea,  rests  the 
Spanish  monastery  of  Santa  Juanita. 
The  silver  bell  pealed  forth  the  hour  of 
midnight.  Before  the  altar  in  prayer 
knelt  a  woman  whose  thoughts  were 
bent  on  her  home  in  Devonshire,  far 
across  the  sea. 

Half  a  league  from  the  island,  quietly 
riding  the  waves,  rocked  the  ship  of  some 
English  buccaneers  on  whose  deck,  if 
the  moon  were  bright  enough,  could  be 
observed  armed  men  preparing  for  a 
land  attack.  Impatiently  pacing  the 
deck,  clad  in  a  military  cloak,  with 
sabre  and  pistols,  was  a  young  officer — 
no  other,  indeed,  than  the  hero  of  the 
brigand  fight  in  the  small  seaport  town 
of  Devonshire. 

The  boat  carried  no  lights  :  all  was 
quiet  as  death.  The  plan  of  action 
which  the  party  adopted  was  to  gain 
the  shore,  quickly  surprise  the  Spanish 
guards,  take  the  town  and  capture  the 


l8       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

monastery,  reported  to  contain  fabulous 
wealth,  and — above  all — some  English 
souls. 

But  things  did  not  turn  out  so  fortu- 
nately. The  Spanish  soldiers,  hidden 
by  thick  underbrush  on  shore,  quietly 
awaited  their  victims,  and  the  handful 
of  brave  English  fellows  were  soon 
overpowered.  Many  were  killed,  and 
in  the  quiet  and  peace  of  the  night 
the  Spaniards  dragged  the  wounded  to 
the  cloister  to  be  cared  for  by  the 
Sisters. 

The  woman  who  knelt  at  prayer  earlier 
in  the  evening  was  now  stooping  over  a 
dying  man.  The  faint  rays  of  a  quaint 
lamp  burning  before  a  shrine  cast  a  dim 
shadow  on  the  stony  floor.  The  melan- 
choly tones  of  the  old  bell  came  like 
rays  of  hope  to  the  ears  of  an  English 
soldier  dying  for  the  love  and  honor  of 
his  sweetheart. 

Having  brought  my  story  to  a  close,  I 
awoke  from  my  dreams.  My  friend  was 


A    ROMANTIC    EVENING  19 

playing  a  soft  plaintive  air  :  from  off  in 
the  distance,  like  a  far-away  echo,  came 
the  deep  voice  of  the  sailor  on  lookout, 
"  Twelve  o'clock,  and  all 's  well." 


V. 

SANTA    CRUZ,    AN    ISLAND    OF 
PLANTATIONS 

I  REACHED  deck  the  next  morning 
*  just  as  the  sun  poised  itself  over 
the  distant  hills.  Santa  Cruz,  like  St. 
Thomas,  belongs  to  Denmark.  It  is  not, 
however,  so  mountainous,  and  the  peo- 
ple find  more  opportunity  here  for  agri- 
culture than  on  the  other  island.  The 
town  itself  is  small,  and  much  the  same 
in  general  character  as  Charlotte  Amalia. 
I  had  accepted  an  invitation  from  Mr. 
Maynard  to  visit  a  large  sugar  planta- 
tion in  which  he  is  interested.  After  a 
light  breakfast,  we  were  rowed  ashore  to 
the  company's  office.  There  we  met 
Col.  Blackwood,  who  is  interested  in  the 

20 


AN    ISLAND   OF   PLANTATIONS        21 

estates  on  the  island.  We  were  soon 
being  driven  by  a  swift  team  of  West 
Indian  ponies  over  smooth  hard  roads 
toward  the  plantation.  The  country 
through  which  we  passed  was  well- 
cultivated. 

After  travelling  some  hours  between 
rows  of  stately  palms  and  through  a 
rich  country,  we  noticed  in  the  distance 
a  mansion  of  the  old  colonial  days  built 
imposingly  on  a  great  hill.  Towards 
this  we  made  our  way.  Here  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  estate. 

In  better  days  when  West  Indian 
sugar  was  a  more  profitable  article  and 
before  the  sugar  bounty  on  the  conti- 
nent was  known,  there  existed  many 
other  rich  plantations  similar  to  this, 
both  here  and  on  the  other  islands.  But 
in  recent  times  affairs  are  in  a  sad  state 
in  all  the  Indies.  This  is  due  primarily 
to  the  decrease  in  value  of  sugar,  which 
is  the  article  of  most  importance  in  the 
islands.  Since  the  fall  of  the  sugar  in- 


22       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

dustry,  the  people  find  it  hard  to  obtain 
a  means  of  subsistence.  Small  wonder 
that  most  of  the  old  European  families 
of  high  birth  have  within  the  last  century 
drifted  away  from  this  region,  and  that 
now  there  remain  only  the  fast  decaying 
estates,  with  their  mansions,  to  testify 
of  once  glorious  times.  It  is  a  touch- 
ing sight. 

We  lunched  at  the  estate,  where  I  met 
Mrs.  Blackwood  and  her  niece,  both 
from  Boston.  It  is  charming  to  experi- 
ence the  true  hospitality  which  the  peo- 
ple of  these  lands  always  seem  so  happy 
to  extend  to  strangers  on  their  shore. 
Charles  Kingsley  spoke  the  truth  when 
he  said  that  the  West  Indian  hospitality 
and  politeness  are  traits  which  the  peo- 
ple of  the  continent  might  well  imitate. 

The  luncheon  itself  was  a  typical  one. 
It  consisted  of  fruit  of  all  kinds,  in- 
cluding mangoes,  plantains,  bread-fruit, 
guavas,  and  other  varieties  which  I  had 
not  seen  since  my  journey  a  few  years 


AN    ISLAND   OF    PLANTATIONS        23 

before  through  Mexico,  and  also  of 
several  delicious  Indian  foods  of  a  light 
and  dainty  character. 

After  luncheon  we  visited  the  sugar 
factory.  This  great  article  of  com- 
merce appears  to  a  stranger  to  be  made 
in  a  very  simple  and  easy  manner,  while 
only  by  one  who  understands  the  trade 
and  the  principles  of  sugar,  can  the 
truly  intricate  and  difficult  character  of 
the  process  be  realized. 

In  a  few  words,  the  sugar-cane  is 
brought  in  great  carts  to  the  factory, 
where  it  is  crushed  between  gigantic 
rollers.  The  juice  thus  obtained  runs 
into  great  vats,  where  it  stands  for  clar- 
ifying. It  is  then  treated  with  steam  to 
a  degree  of  ripeness,  and  afterwards 
allowed  slowly  to  crystallize.  These 
crystals  form  the  brown  sugar,  which  is 
sent  in  great  cakes  to  the  market,  usually 
the  United  States,  for  refining.  That 
which  does  not  crystallize  becomes  what 
we  know  as  crude  molasses,  and  is 


24       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

again  put  through  the  same  process  as 
the  juice  from  the  sugar  ;  that  which 
still  remains  passes  into  stills  for  the 
manufacture  of  rum. 

Of  rum,  also  a  very  important  article 
of  trade  in  the  Indies,  it  is  needless  to 
say  that  in  former  times,  when  this 
liquor  was  more  popular,  the  West 
Indian  was  known  to  be  the  best. 

After  a  very  interesting  hour  spent  at 
the  factory  we  returned  to  the  house, 
where  we  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  on 
the  cool  verandas.  After  dinner,  which 
our  excellent  hostess  presided  over  in  a 
charming  manner,  we  strolled  about  the 
parks  under  the  great  trees.  But  it  was 
now  growing  late,  and  as  the  moon  had 
already  risen  some  hours,  we  were 
obliged  to  bid  our  kind  friends  fare- 
well. 

There  is  a  peculiar  pathos  in  the  part- 
ing from  such  brief  acquaintances  who 
have  been  very  kind  to  us  and  whom 
perhaps  we  shall  never  see  again.  That 


AN    ISLAND    OF    PLANTATIONS       25 

night,  as  we  drove  back  to  the  coast, 
threading  our  way  through  great  forests, 
the  moon  throwing  dark  shadows  across 
our  path,  I  was  unusually  sensitive  to 
emotion. 


VI. 

A    FIELD-DAY    IN    ST.  KITT's 

PHE  next  morning  I  was  awakened 
*  from  my  slumbers  by  the  roar  of 
a  cannon,  followed  by  other  reports 
whose  echoes  were  driven  back  by  the 
great  mountains  rising  from  the  water's 
edge. 

As  everything  so  far  had  been  quiet 
and  peaceful  during  our  voyage,  and  as 
in  these  dreamy  lands  I  had  no  antici- 
pations pertaining  to  war  of  any  sort,  I 
was  naturally  somewhat  startled. 

Thrusting  my  head  out  the  port-hole, 
I  noted  a  few  leagues  from  us  several 
men-of-war  at  anchor.  A  little  time 
afterwards  I  went  on  deck,  just  as  the 
reveille  was  wafted  within  our  hearing 
26 


A.    FIELD-DAY    IN    ST.    KITT'S          27 

from  an  English  man-of-war  to  our 
starboard,  and  with  my  glass  was  able 
to  observe  on  the  English  boats  the 
sailors  taking  their  muskets  and  prepar- 
ing for  early  morning  inspection  and 
drill. 

Count  Bismarck  had  asked  me  to  go 
aboard  the  warship  Blake  for  breakfast, 
having  letters  to  the  captain,  whom  he 
expected  to  meet  in  these  waters.  As 
we  rowed  alongside  the  ironclad,  the 
mouths  of  the  great  cannon  looked 
grimly  towards  us,  in  sharp  contrast 
with  the  very  cordial  reception  we  re- 
ceived after  boarding  the  English  ves- 
sel. Our  cards  were  carried  to  the 
officer  of  the  deck,  who  at  once  directed 
them  to  be  sent  to  the  captain. 

It  had  always  been  one  of  my  great 
pleasures  to  make  acquaintance  with 
the  captains  of  vessels.  Something 
about  their  very  sea-faring  life  breeds  a 
frank  politeness  giving  them  the  quali- 
ties of  the  true  gentleman,  although 


28       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

often  somewhat  hidden  under  a  cloak 
of  brusque  sea  manners. 

We  were  fortunate  enough  to  see  the 
marines  drawn  up  in  line  for  drill,  and 
interested  at  the  manner  in  which  they 
did  justice  to  their  colors. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  that  one  of  these 
ships  is  almost  a  city  in  itself.  Each 
man  has  his  own  little  home  and  his 
daily  duties.  There  is  a  market-place 
where  are  stored  foods  of  all  kinds,  and 
adjacent  to  this  the  place  where  live- 
stock is  kept  for  consumption.  Farther 
down  the  gangway  we  found  in  the  work- 
shop men  busily  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  new  implements  and  the 
repairing  of  the  old. 

We  also  saw  the  tailor-shop  and  linen 
outfit,  where  clothes  were  in  process  of 
making  and  old  ones  being  mended. 
Here  also  was  the  boot  and  shoe  repair- 
ing shop.  A  blue  and  white  sign  at- 
tracted our  attention  to  the  barber- 
shop. In  coming  back  by  another 


A    FIELD-DAY   IN    ST.    KITT/'s          29 

street  we  passed  through  the  great 
kitchen  of  the  cruiser,  where  food  is 
cooked  for  the  small  city,  and  the  hos- 
pital where  the  sick  are  kept. 

We  spent  a  good  part  of  the  morning 
aboard  the  Blake  j  nor  could  we  make 
a  graceful  retreat  without  accepting  an 
invitation  from  the  captain  for  dinner, 
to  be  followed  by  a  military  ball  on 
deck,  given  in  honor  of  the  governor. 

Programmes  were  distributed  about 
the  Madiana,  telling  us  there  were  to  be 
athletic  games  given  by  the  officers  and 
sailors  of  the  British  squadron  on  the 
grounds  in  Basseterre,  the  principal 
town  of  the  island,  off  which  we  were 
anchored. 

During  noon-time  we  wandered  about 
the  streets  visiting  all  the  places  of  in- 
terest to  strangers.  This  was  the  first 
English  island  we  had  yet  touched  on 
our  voyage,  and  it  surprised  us  to  find 
how  typically  English  everything  was. 
However  tropical  the  surroundings 


30       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

might  be,  yet  we  found  everywhere  the 
well-equipped,  neat  English  house,  with 
its  tennis-court  and  cricket  set  on  the 
lawn. 

In  the  afternoon  we  noticed  happy 
people  at  their  five  o'clock  teas  or  en- 
gaging in  athletic  games,  just  as  at 
Southampton  and  Brighton.  To  be  sure, 
only  a  very  small  per  cent,  of  the  inhabi- 
tants are  English,  but  wherever  an  Eng- 
lishman wanders  he  brings  with  him  his 
own  ideas,  customs,  and  mannerisms. 
To  me  the  English  nation  appears  not 
only  one  of  great  enterprise,  but  ranks 
first  as  a  people  that  civilized  the  world. 

Pleasant  fountains  shaded  by  grace- 
ful palms  or  mangoes,  marked  the  inter- 
section of  many  of  the  streets,  and 
numerous  little  parks  were  scattered 
here  and  there  throughout  the  city. 
The  streets  were  well-paved  and  clean  ; 
and  the  houses,  though  small,  have  a 
neat  and  sanitary  appearance. 

About   four  o'clock   we   turned  our 


A    FIELD-DAY    IN    ST.    KITT  S         31 

steps  in  the  direction  of  the  athletic 
games. 

While  these  games  are  not  different 
in  themselves  from  the  ordinary  tourna- 
ments of  athletics  that  we  have  in  Amer- 
ica, there  is  here  added  to  them  the 
romantic  interest  of  being  given  by  ma- 
rines and  officers  of  far-away  England. 
In  the  background  loom  up  the  great 
mountains  ;  before  us,  beyond  gently 
sloping  meadows  and  plains,  the  ocean 
rolls  in  the  distance. 

The  field  was  lined  with  carriages 
and  vehicles  of  all  kinds,  filled  with 
pretty  girls  arrayed  in  striking  costumes 
for  this  gala  occasion  of  the  week. 

Here,  through  some  English  folk  to 
whom  I  had  cards  of  introduction,  I 
made  some  very  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances. 

We  sat  in  one  of  the  carriages  with  a 
bevy  of  fair  English  ladies,  and  amidst 
the  shouts  and  laughter  and  confusion 
of  the  throng,  thoroughly  enjoyed  our- 


32       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

selves.  Popcorn,  peanuts,  lemonade, 
sandwiches,  soda  and  the  like  were  all 
in  good  form,  and  to  say  that  we  spent 
a  pleasant  afternoon  would  hardly  do 
justice  to  our  appreciation. 


VII. 

ENSEMBLE 

'T'HE  Marine  Band  is  playing  a  dreamy 
*  southern  air.  We  are  aboard  the 
English  warship  Blake.  In  the  dis- 
tance, glistening  in  the  moon,  the  palms 
sigh.  Imagine  the  romance  of  a  mili- 
tary ball  in  the  tropics  ! 

We  were  anchored  only  a  short  dis- 
tance from  Her  Majesty's  island  of  St. 
Kitt's.  The  mountains  rise  from  the 
bosom  of  the  ocean  clad  in  a  mantle  of 
rich  tropical  vegetation. 

"  Ah  !  Count,"  I  say,  as  the  moon 
appearing  from  a  cloud  brings  this 
grand  panorama  to  view,  "  if  there  is 
any  spark  of  true  life  in  a  man,  this 
would  surely  kindle  it  into  nobility  !  " 
3  33 


34       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Thereupon  my  friend  answers,  "  Why 
ponder  upon  such  serious  thoughts 
when  your  friend,  yonder  pretty  Ameri- 
can girl,  awaits  you  for  this  waltz  ? " 

I  am  soon  gliding  away  in  the  dance 
with  one  of  the  sweetest  girls.  We  are 
on  the  British  West  India  ship,  whose 
deck,  garnished  by  pretty  women  and 
handsome  officers  in  full  military  dress, 
presents  a  scene  not  likely  to  be  for- 
gotten. I  am  very  proud,  for  well  I 
know  my  fair  friend  is  the  chief  attrac- 
tion of  those  brave  English  eyes. 

What  a  night !  Shall  I  ever  forget 
it  ?  Threading  our  way  among  the  danc- 
ers we  at  last  find  ourselves  in  the  bow 
of  this  mighty  ship,  under  two  great 
cannon  (England's  pride).  Neither  of 
us  speak.  We  thus  sit  musing  some 
time,  till,  faintly  wafted  by  the  gentle 
breeze,  the  peal  of  the  old  cathedral 
bell  comes  to  us.  In  such  times  people 
find  in  one  another  that  which  is  most 
pleasing  on  earth — feelings  in  com- 


ENSEMBLE  35 

mon  ;  and  these,  when  based  upon 
character  and  the  more  noble  qualities 
of  man,  indeed  bring  one  a  little  nearer 
to  true  friendship. 


VIII. 

ANTIGUA — AN  OUTING  IN  THE 
MOUNTAINS 

A  FEW  hours  after  returning  from 
**•  the  ball,  we  weighed  anchor,  and 
the  engines  of  our  boat  throbbed  once 
more  as  we  headed  again  southward  on 
our  way  to  new  lands. 

Needless  to  say,  I  slept  the  sleep  of 
the  happy,  and  never  waked  in  a  more 
contented  mood  than  I  did  the  next 
morning.  Our  graceful  ship  is  on  her 
way  towards  a  dark  shadow  in  the  dis- 
tance, which  the  captain  tells  us  is 
Antigua. 

It  was  towards  noon  when  we  reached 
the  harbor  and  our  boat  once  more  came 
to  anchor.     We  were  to  spend  the  rest 
of  Saturday  and  Sunday  in  Antigua. 
36 


AN  OUTING  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS      37 

Next  morning  Mr.  Austin,  a  young 
Englishman  with  whom  I  had  become 
quite  intimate,  and  I,  decided  to  take  a 
forty-five  mile  drive  around  the  island. 
The  road  passed  through  dense  forests 
and  jungles,  where  there  was  hardly 
enough  light  at  mid-day  to  read  a  news- 
paper ;  then  again  climbed  the  moun- 
tain side  or  lay  along  the  smooth  sandy 
beach  of  the  seashore.  On  the  way  we 
saw  the  city  reservoir  built  by  the  colo- 
nial inhabitants.  Here  were  great  piles 
of  masonry  in  which  much  skill  in  civil 
engineering  was  displayed.  I  noticed 
on  steel  plates  the  names  of  English 
constructionists  and  engineers.  From 
this  point,  which  is  situated  some  twelve 
miles  distant  in  the  mountains,  run  a 
system  of  pipes  to  the  city,  by  which 
cool  refreshing  water  of  the  very  best 
kind,  derived  from  the  mountain  springs 
and  streams,  is  always  obtainable. 

Towards  evening,  as  we  were  still 
some  distance  from  the  town,  we  saw  a 


38       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

neat  white  church  situated  at  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  from  which  came 
strains  of  sweet  music.  We  looked  at 
one  another  without  saying  a  word,  tied 
our  horses  to  a  tree,  entered  and  took 
a  seat  in  the  midst  of  the  little  negro 
congregation.  I  was  particularly  im- 
pressed by  the  sincerity  of  devotion 
with  which  these  people  worshipped  ;  I 
learned  there  to  respect  the  negro  more 
than  I  had  ever  before  thought  it  possible 
for  me  to  do. 


IX. 

MARTINIQUE,  A    FRENCH   MINIATURE   IN 
THE    TROPICS 

I F  a  great  searchlight  could  be  levelled 
*  at  Martinique,  it  would  unfold  to 
the  observer  a  vivid  picture  like  that  of 
gay  Paris.  Although  the  rays  of  life  are 
somewhat  diminished  in  coming  such  a 
distance  as  from  France  to  the  West 
Indies,  nevertheless  their  nature  is  the 
same. 

Strolling  up  from  the  quays  whither 
we  had  rowed  in  small  boats,  we  were 
at  once  amused  and  interested.  A 
smile  appeared  simultaneously  on  the 
faces  of  all  of  us,  the  sign  on  a  large 
yellow  placard  struck  our  gaze,  an- 
nouncing that  a  grand  ballet  was  to  be 
30 


40       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

enacted  by  the  famous  X of  Paris 

that  evening,  followed  by  a  French  ball. 
We  had  hardly  anticipated  such  amuse- 
ment in  these  romantic  lands  of  the 
South. 

As  we  went  about  some  of  our  party 
attempted  to  exercise  their  knowledge 
of  the  French  tongue,  although  without 
much  success  in  understanding  or  in 
being  understood,  for  the  reason  that 
these  people  have  not  a  pure  speech 
but  a  mixture  of  French  and  negro 
patois,  similar  to  the  "  Gumbo  "  dialect 
of  New  Orleans,  which  is  quite  incom- 
prehensible to  ordinary  ears. 

The  striking  feature  of  St.  Pierre, 
the  largest  and  principal  city  of  Mar- 
tinique, is,  as  I  have  said,  its  distinc- 
tively French  associations.  Were  it 
not  for  an  occasional  orange  tree,  or 
some  other  tropical  plant,  we  could 
easily  imagine  ourselves  in  one  of  the 
smaller  towns  of  France.  Here  one 
reads  French  names  above  the  shops, 


LITTLE  FRANCE  IN  THE  TROPICS      41 

and  finds  at  the  intersections  of  the 
streets  an  occasional  statue  erected  to 
the  memory  of  some  noted  Frenchman. 

The  island  of  Martinique  being  very 
mountainous,  the  city  should  have  the 
very  best  of  sanitary  equipments,  yet 
what  we  consider  the  necessary  condi- 
tions for  health  are  quite  unknown 
there.  The  gutters,  supplied  with  fresh 
and  cold  water  from  the  streams  of  the 
mountains,  rush  down  the  sides  of  the 
streets,  and  were  it  not  for  these  the 
death-rate  at  Martinique  would  be  still 
greater  than  it  now  is. 

The  architecture  of  the  houses  is 
decidedly  European,  though  tending 
rather  towards  the  light  and  dainty  or- 
der than  the  solid  and  substantial,  repre- 
senting, like  many  French  people,  beauty 
while  it  lasts,  but  quick  decay. 

In  St.  Pierre  are  pretty  parks  with  an 
occasional  murmuring  fountain  ;  also 
here  and  there  a  marble  or  bronze  statue 
hid  by  thick  foliage.  In  the  quiet  of 


42       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

the  evenings  hither  come  the  beautiful 
French  Creoles  ;  and  many  a  pretty  lit- 
tle romance  takes  place  here,  ushered 
in  by  a  guitar  serenade. 

One  statue  brings  back  reminiscences 
of  the  older  days  of  the  French  empire. 
It  represents  the  patient  Josephine, 
Empress  of  the  French.  Martinique 
is  her  birthplace,  and  here  the  simple, 
beautiful  Creole  lived  her  younger  days 
and  received  her  first  education. 

But  we  could  not  linger  too  long 
about  these  pleasant  spots,  for  we  had 
engaged  a  voiture  to  drive  us  to  the 
botanical  gardens  and  thence  to  a  little 
town  situated  some  distance  from  St. 
Pierre,  high  up  in  the  mountains. 

The  botanical  gardens  of  Martinique 
are  known  all  over  the  world.  Aside 
from  those  of  Trinidad  they  are  con- 
sidered the  finest  in  existence.  Taking 
into  consideration  the  nature  and  adap- 
tation of  the  surroundings,  I  consider 
the  gardens  of  Martinique  even  grander, 
as  a  whole,  than  those  of  Trinidad. 


A  FRENCH  CREOLE,  MARTINIQUE. 


LITTLE  FRANCE  IN  THE  TROPICS      43 

To  attempt  to  describe  our  walks 
through  the  old  parks  would  be  a  fail- 
ure, for  I  could  not  do  justice  to  the 
sentiments  which  were  aroused  in  me 
on  beholding  growing  in  their  natural 
simplicity,  side  by  side,  the  orange, 
citron,  fig,  guava,  and  many  other  fruits, 
in  great  luxuriance.  Bamboo  grows 
here  in  profusion  ;  also  wild  and  dainty 
orchids  of  all  kinds  clinging  to  the 
rocks  and  the  bark  of  the  trees. 

Added  to  these  wonders  of  growing 
nature,  were  great  cataracts  leaping 
from  the  near  mountains.  All  this 
beauty  and  grandeur  was  sufficient  to 
inspire  the  soul  of  any  man. 

After  returning  to  our  hotel  and  rest- 
ing, we  enjoyed  an  excellent  dinner 
prepared  in  good  style  by  a  French 
chef.  Even  to  the  fact  of  wine  ap- 
pearing on  the  table  free  of  charge, 
everything  showed  the  customs  of  the 
French  transplanted  to  the  island. 

Later  on  in  the  evening,  we  found 
our  way  through  gayly  lighted  streets, 


44       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

which  appeared  like  a  diminished  re- 
flection of  the  Rue  de  Rivoli,  to  the 
Opera  House,  where,  as  previously  re- 
marked, we  had  observed  a  notice  to 
the  effect  that  a  ballet  and  masked  ball 
would  take  place  that  night.  The  ballet 
was  good  ;  the  French  ballet  is  always 
good,  comparatively  speaking.  The 
energy  and  spirit  with  which  this  people 
enter  into  everything  is  too  well  known 
to  comment  upon.  The  ball,  I  shall 
leave  to  my  readers' imagination  ;  suffice 
it  to  say  that  it  was  similar  to  any  mid- 
winter masked  ball  given  at  the  Madi- 
son Square  in  New  York  City. 


X. 


ST.    LUCIA,    A     FORMER     GIBRALTAR    OF 
THE    WEST    INDIES 

1VTO  other  small  island  in  the  West 
*  ^  Indies  has  been  the  scene  of 
more  contention  between  European 
powers  than  St.  Lucia. 

Speaking  of  the  striking  appearance 
of  this  rough,  volcanic  island,  and  of 
its  convenient  situation  for  military 
purposes,  a  recent  writer  adds  :  "  What 
wonder  that  two  mighty  nations  con- 
tended for  the  possession  of  St.  Lucia, 
as  the  Greeks  and  Trojans  waged  war 
for  the  guardianship  of  fair  Helen  of 
old  ? " 

In  1605  the  first  attempt  was  made 
at  colonization,  when  the  English  ship 
45 


46       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Olive  Blossom  landed  some  sixty  col- 
onists, who  planted  the  flag  of  St. 
George  and  occupied  the  island  in 
the  name  of  England.  From  this  time 
until  the  capitulation  of  the  French 
at  Fort  Morne  Fortune,  in  1803,  there 
was  an  almost  ceaseless  strife  for  the 
sovereignty  of  the  island.  The  fol- 
lowing extract,  taken  from  a  letter 
written  by  Admiral  Rodney  in  1772 
to  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  shows  the 
importance  with  which  St.  Lucia  was 
regarded  :  "  I  had  lately  the  honor 
to  present  to  your  Lordship  a  copy  of 
a  letter  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  send 
to  the  King's  Minister  .  .  .  pointing 
out  the  great  consequence  of  retaining 
some  of  the  conquered  islands,  partic- 
ularly Martinique  or  St.  Lucia  ;  and 
though  at  that  time  I  preferred  the 
retention  of  Martinique,  I  am  now 
fully  convinced  that  St.  Lucia  is  of  more 
consequence  to  Britain  .  .  .  Either 
of  these  islands  in  the  hands  of  Great 


A  FORMER  GIBRALTAR  OF  THE  INDIES    47 

Britain  must,  while  she  remains  a  great 
maritime  power,  make  her  sovereign  of 
the  West  Indies." 

Such  is  a  very  brief  outline  of  some 
of  the  past  events.  To-day  there  re- 
main but  the  fast  crumbling  forts  and 
barracks  as  a  testimony  to  this  once 
important  military  strong-hold. 

The  old  mountain  barracks  are  far 
more  healthful  than  if  along  the  coast  ; 
the  matter  of  climate  being  one  of  the 
most  important  things  England  has  to 
study  in  choosing  her  tropical  loca- 
tions. Thus  at  Aden  on  the  Red  Sea, 
reported  to  be  one  of  the  hottest  places 
on  the  globe,  it  is  necessary  for  the 
Government  to  relieve  the  soldiers 
every  few  months  by  sending  fresh 
recruits  thither  from  other  tropical 
countries  where  they  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  serve. 

Great  dredging  machines,  similar  to 
those  used  in  Panama,  were  sent  over 
to  deepen  the  waters  of  the  harbor,  so 


48       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

that  now  steamers  of  the  largest  draught 
can  land  immediately  at  the  side  of 
the  pier.  This  is  something  unknown 
to  almost  all  the  Islands  and  harbors 
of  South  America. 

St.  Lucia  has  also  been  made  one  of 
the  coaling  stations  of  England.  It  was 
with  great  interest  that  I  watched  a 
large  German  merchant  steamer  being 
coaled  in  this  remote  section  of  the 
world.  The  manner  in  which  they 
coal  these  boats  is  unique.  From  75 
to  150  negroes,  both  men  and  women, 
are  supplied  with  rough  baskets  of  one 
or  two  bushels  capacity,  which  they  are 
compelled  to  carry  on  their  heads.  It 
is  very  hard  work,  and  on  inquiry  I 
ascertained  that  these  poor  wretches 
are  only  paid  at  the  rate  of  a  few  cents 
an  hour. 

St.  Lucia  seemed  to  me  one  of  the 
loveliest  of  the  West  India  islands. 
While  I  was  sitting  here  on  deck  one 
evening,  our  boat  being  fastened  along- 


A  FORMER  GIBRALTAR  OF  THE  INDIES   49 

side  the  pier,  familiar  airs  of  religious 
music  were  wafted  thither  by  the 
breeze.  On  inquiry  I  learned  that 
the  Salvation  Army  had  reached  its 
helping  hand  even  to  these  poor  lands. 
Later,  seated  in  the  Salvation  Army 
Hall,  amongst  a  hundred  or  so  of  the 
meanest  and  poorest  kind  of  people, 
I  faintly  realized  the  real  good  a  few 
persons  of  sincere  purpose  may  accom- 
plish, though  all  odds  are  against  them. 

St.  Lucia  is  a  typical  southern  island. 
Its  mountains,  clad  with  great  tropical 
forests  and  jungles,  are  the  home  of 
many  wild  animals.  Here  the  English 
sportsman  finds  his  joy  and  excitement 
in  hunting  the  fleet  deer,  while  for  still 
more  exciting  game,  he  may  hunt  the 
leopard  and  wild-cat  up  in  the  mount- 
ains. 

Castries,  the  principal  city,  off  which 
we  were  anchored,  presented  a  very 
pretty  sight,  the  older  part  being  nestled 
at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  while  the 


50       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

newer  life  seemed  to  be  entwining 
itself  about  the  sides  of  the  great  pre- 
cipice. 

Towards  evening  the  great  cables 
which  had  been  holding  the  Madiana 
to  the  pier  were  loosened  and  we  drifted 
once  again  into  the  open  harbor.  We 
had  been  given  a  farewell  by  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  who  came  down 
to  the  wharf,  the  negroes,  gaudily 
dressed,  looking  like  parrots  in  crim- 
sons, blues,  and  greens. 

A  little  later  we  were  passing  the 
Pitons,  two  great  volcanic  mountains 
rising  perpendicularly  from  the  water 
to  a  height  of  about  three  thousand  feet. 
The  sea  about  these  cliffs  is  so  deep  that 
a  steamer  could  pass  touching  the  very 
sides  of  the  precipice  itself. 

A  story  is  told  of  four  English  sailors, 
who,  having  heard  that  these  mount- 
ains were  insurmountable,  made  oath 
among  themselves  that  they  would  try 
to  accomplish  the  feat.  Their  friends 


A  BELLE  OF  ST.  LUCIA. 


A  FORMER  GIBRALTAR  OF  THE  INDIES    $1 

from  a  boat  in  the  distance  watched 
them  anxiously  through  glasses.  When 
half-way  up  one  of  them  was  seen  to 
drop,  but  the  three  others  went  on.  A 
few  hundred  feet  higher  a  second 
dropped,  and  afterwards  a  third.  The 
last  one  had  almost  reached  the  summit 
when  he  also  fell.  No  account  of  what 
had  befallen  them  ever  reached  the 
ship.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been 
bitten  by  the  fer  de  lance,  the  deadliest 
snake  in  St.  Lucia  and  perhaps  in  the 
world. 


XI. 

BARBADOES,  AN    ENGLISH    COLONY   UP 
TO  DATE 

A  LL  was  bustle  and  commotion  on 
**  board  the  Madiana  on  the  morn- 
ing of  January  izth,  for  we  were  soon 
to  arrive  at  Barbadoes,  which  was  her 
last  stopping-place  before  she  turned 
her  bow  again  toward  the  North.  Many 
of  the  passengers  intended  returning  to 
New  York  again  by  the  Madiana  ; 
others,  like  myself,  decided  to  part 
with  the  boat,  and  associations  which 
had  become  so  endeared,  and  strike  out 
for  new  regions. 

It  was  with  much  feeling  that  I  bade 
adieu  to  our  good  captain,  Mr.  Fraser, 
and  to  the  passengers  who  had  been 
with  us  thus  far  on  the  cruise. 
52 


AN  ENGLISH  COLONY  UP  TO  DATE      53 

Barbadoes  is  very  much  unlike  the 
other  islands  we  have  visited  in  being 
not  of  the  volcanic  order  but  of  a  coral 
formation,  thus  presenting  a  level  ap- 
pearance. It  is  about  the  size  of  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  and  has  a  population  of 
about  180,000,  by  far  the  greater  part 
blacks. 

On  arriving  at  Barbadoes  I  was  at 
once  driven  to  the  Marine  Hotel, 
whither  I  had  sent  my  luggage.  The 
Marine  is  a  fine  old  hostelry  built  of 
rough  stone,  a  few  miles  from  the  town 
facing  the  sea.  Here  one  can  always 
find  the  cool  breezes  of  the  ocean  and 
the  cleanliness  of  a  well-kept  inn.  In 
this  vicinity  are  many  of  the  better 
houses  of  the  capital  and  principal  city 
of  Barbadoes,  Bridgetown.  Tramways 
run  from  the  business  part  of  the  town 
to  this  locality,  a  distance  of  about 
three  miles.  At  the  hotel  I  afterwards 
met  a  few  Americans  as  well  as  some 
Britons.  People  seek  this  island  for  its 


54       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

salubrious  climate  and  its  pleasant  sur- 
roundings. 

Barbadoes  having  been  occupied  by 
the  British  for  some  two  hundred  years, 
has  a  distinctively  modern  English  ap- 
pearance ;  there  is  considerable  wealth 
there,  for  the  ancestors  of  many  of  its 
old  English  families  owned  plantations 
and  slaves. 

The  parade  grounds  or  Savannah  of 
the  military  quarters  present  a  lively 
scene  in  the  morning  and  evening,  and 
thither  I  strolled  about  five  o'clock  in 
the  evening  with  a  certain  charming 
passenger  of  the  Madiana,  who  has  been 
closely  associated  with  many  of  my 
experiences  in  the  islands.  That  she 
should  be  popular  everywhere  is  indeed 
no  wonder.  She  is  a  typical  American 
girl :  bright,  vivacious,  experienced,  and, 
above  all,  sincere.  It  is  this  kind  of 
girl  that  has  made  the  American  wo- 
man appear  as  the  ideal  woman  in  the 
hearts  not  only  of  Americans,  but  also 


AN  ENGLISH  COLONY  UP  TO  DATE   55 

of  the  stolid  and  easy-going  Briton,  the 
gay  and  vivacious  Frenchman,  and  the 
more  romantic  and  sentimental  Span- 
iard. 

The  soldiers  performing  their  usual 
evening  dress  drill,  presented  a  fine 
view  on  the  field.  The  infantry  per- 
formed their  evolutions,  directed  by 
officers  in  gay  costumes,  while  farther 
off  in  the  distance  the  cavalry  bore 
down  upon  an  imaginary  enemy,  and 
the  artillery  brought  up  the  rear. 

At  our  first  dinner  on  the  island, 
among  other  things  on  the  bill  of  fare 
I  noticed  flying  fish,  and  as  these  were 
considered  a  great  delicacy,  I  felt  that 
I  certainly  must  try  them.  They  taste 
very  much  like  the  sole  of  England. 
The  fish  itself  is  of  the  same  genus  as 
the  flying  fish  we  meet  in  crossing  the 
northern  Atlantic,  but  of  a  much  smaller 
species. 

The  next  day  I  took  a  long  drive  with 
the  Count  about  this  section.  We  drove 


56       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

past  the  Government  prison  and  the 
labor-house,  not  caring  to  visit  either, 
as  I  had  been  through  institutions  of  a 
similar  nature.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
the  Government  institutions  are  here 
well  cared  for.  The  governor,  appointed 
by  the  Home  Government,  is  an  able 
man  and  well  qualified  for  those  duties 
of  trust  and  importance  placed  upon 
him  by  the  Queen.  There  is  an  assem- 
bly which  makes  the  laws  and  which 
somewhat  corresponds  to  our  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives.  A  chief 
justice  presides  over  the  judicial  de- 
partment, and  there  are  other  judges  on 
the  bench.  The  police  are  well  trained, 
being  under  the  supervision  of  a  Chief 
of  Police,  an  important  personage  of 
the  island. 

In  driving  we  passed  many  planta- 
tions and  rich  fields  of  sugar,  rice,  and 
other  tropical  products.  After  seeing 
as  much  of  the  country  as  we  had  leis- 
ure for,  we  returned  to  Bridgetown  and 


AN  ENGLISH  COLONY  UP  TO  DATE   57 

did  some  shopping.  The  shops  are  very 
much  like  those  in  England  and  on  a 
grand  scale.  They  have  a  few  large 
department  stores  where  one  can  find 
anything  from  a  hat-pin  to  an  anchor. 

We  visited  the  famous  Ice-house  and 
drank  the  local  popular  drink,  the  swiz- 
zle. The  Ice-house,  so  called  because 
the  luxury  of  ice  is  there  obtained,  is 
common  to  all  the  West  Indian  islands 
and  is  a  sort  of  hotel  with  cafe"  and 
restaurant  attached.  Here  the  better 
elements  of  the  people  usually  meet  and 
lead  that  indolent  existence  common  to 
the  South.  The  swizzle,  which  is  the 
characteristic  drink  of  the  Islands,  is  a 
sort  of  cocktail,  which  after  being  con- 
cocted is  made  to  ferment  by  the  use  of 
a  stick  with  prongs  on  the  end  called  a 
swizzle-stick.  It  is  a  mild  and  cooling 
drink,  in  which  both  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  the  South  indulge. 

That  evening  I  was  invited  out  to 
dinner  by  some  English  friends  to  whom 


58       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

I  had  letters.  Their  estate,  situated  a 
little  distance  from  town  on  an  emi- 
nence, affords  a  fine  specimen  of 
colonial  architecture,  refinement,  and 
wealth.  High  stone  walls  encircle  the 
grounds  ;  fountains  give  an  air  of  life, 
while  in  the  rear  is  a  park  of  great  trees. 
The  house  is  built  of  rough  stone  :  the 
rooms  are  commodious  and  comforta- 
ble. A  great  entrance  hall  into  which 
open  the  rooms,  is  finished  in  hard  wood, 
and  contains  many  relics  of  antiquity, 
such  as  helmets,  swords,  fire-arms,  etc. 
All  the  rooms  contain  large  fireplaces, 
for  even  in  this  climate  the  evenings 
are  cool  and  damp. 

After  dinner  our  host,  a  good  story- 
teller and  a  man  who  has  had  many 
adventures  and  experiences,  related  in 
an  interesting  way  phases  of  the  life  of 
former  days  in  the  Indies  and  on  the 
Spanish  Main. 

I  must  not  leave  Barbadoes  without 
impressing  upon  my  readers  the  impor- 


AN  ENGLISH  COLONY  UP  TO  DATE   59 

tance  and  significance  of  this  island 
and  especially  of  the  city — Bridgetown. 
This  is  the  centre  of  trade  for  all  the 
Islands  and  the  port  of  the  Royal  Mail 
line  between  England  and  the  Islands 
and  the  mainland  of  South  America,  as 
well  as  that  of  the  Hamburg-American 
steamers,  of  other  European  lines,  the 
Quebec  Steamship  Co.,  and  the  boats 
plying  between  South  America  and 
New  York.  It  is  in  fact  the  New  York 
of  the  Indies.  The  city  itself  is  com- 
posed of  substantial  shops  and  ware- 
houses. The  streets  are  well  paved  and 
illuminated  by  electricity.  Here  one 
finds  all  the  modern  conveniences  and 
comforts  of  life.  The  docks  always 
present  a  busy  scene  where  one  may 
gain  an  idea  of  the  commercial  impor- 
tance of  the  place. 

A  few  days  later  I  boarded  the  Royal 
Mail  Steamship  Solent,  which  was  to 
carry  us  over  our  route  to  Venezuela 
by  way  of  the  islands  of  Grenada,  Trin- 


60       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

idad,    and    Curacoa;    three    countries 
promising  much  of  interest. 

It  is  towards  five  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing when  the  Solent  slowly  steams  out 
of  the  harbor  of  Barbadoes.  I  wave  a 
little  silk  flag  with  the  stars  and  stripes 
to  our  fair  companion,  who  has  added 
so  much  to  the  pleasure  and  interest  of 
this  trip  and  has  also  endeared  herself 
very  greatly  to  our  memory.  She  is  to 
remain  here  for  some  time  and  enjoy 
with  her  father  the  delightful  place,  and 
towards  spring  is  to  return  once  again 
to  her  friends  and  home  in  the  North. 


XII. 

A   GLIMPSE   OF    GRENADA 

PHE  Solent  is  one  of  those  sharp, 
*  well-fitted  steel  cruisers  which  are 
so  often  seen  flying  the  British  flag  in 
foreign  waters.  She  is  scarcely  of  three 
thousand  tons,  and  is  said  to  be  the 
ideal  model  of  the  Royal  Mail  Line. 
The  rooms,  though  not  situated  on  the 
upper  deck  as  were  those  of  the  Madi- 
ana,  yet  are  large  and  comfortable  and 
the  table  is  excellent. 

In  the  evening  the  captain,  the  doc- 
tor, the  purser,  and  the  other  officers  of 
the  boat  appear  in  full  dress.  Their 
example  is  also  followed  by  the  passen- 
gers on  the  boat. 

But  although  so  superior  to  the  Ma- 
61 


62        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

diana  in  respect  of  discipline  and  ser- 
vice, I  still  bear  the  fondest  recollections 
of  the  pleasures  of  that  good  home-like 
ship  which  brought  us  to  Barbadoes. 

We  had  a  night  of  smooth  sailing. 
About  four  o'clock  the  next  afternoon, 
after  coasting  the  shores  of  Grenada 
for  some  hours,  we  turned  a  point  of 
land  and  entered  the  almost  perfectly 
land-locked  harbor  of  the  principal 
city — St.  George. 

On  approaching,  the  first  thing  we 
noticed  was  a  fort  built  of  heavy  stone, 
overlooking  the  town  and  the  harbor. 
It  seems  to  be  an  Englishman's  joy 
to  tug  and  climb  whenever  an  oppor- 
tunity presents  itself.  I  was  soon 
on  my  way  ashore  with  four  young 
English  fellows  from  London.  The 
first  thing  we  did  on  landing  was  to 
scale  the  heights  from  below  and  try  to 
gain  access  to  the  fort.  After  an  hour's 
hard  work  we  reached  the  gate  and  were 
accosted  by  a  sleepy  sentry.  We  sent 


A    GLIMPSE    OF    GRENADA  63 

our  cards  to  the  commandant  of  the 
fort,  and  in  a  few  minutes  one  of  the 
lieutenants  was  showing  us  about  the 
place. 

There  is  nothing  remarkable  about 
the  fort.  It  is  a  crumbling  mass  of 
stone,  and  the  few  old  rusty  cannon  lying 
about  could  probably  not  be  used  even 
in  case  of  an  emergency.  The  garrison 
consists  of  a  handful  of  old  crippled 
men,  mostly  negroes,  and  when  later  I 
saw  them  on  drill  I  thought  I  had  never 
known  a  poorer  show  of  soldiers  who 
wore  the  British  uniform. 

Indeed,  there  was  but  little  life  any- 
where to  be  seen  on  this  island.  The 
citizens  of  the  town  lay  about  in  a  dole- 
ful mood,  as  if  they  had  forgotten  all 
about  such  a  thing  as  energy.  In  former 
years,  before  the  negro  gained  so  much 
control  over  affairs,  and  when  many 
white  people  lived  on  the  island,  things 
were  prosperous  ;  the  cane-fields  were 
well  cultivated  and  brought  in  hand- 


64       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

some  incomes,  and  commerce  and  trade 
were  active. 

The  subject  is  too  sad  to  linger  upon. 
The  few  white  inhabitants  are  thor- 
oughly disgusted,  and  seem  to  have  lost 
all  ambition  of  bringing  about  other 
results. 

In  contrast  to  all  this,  as  we  were  leav- 
ing the  shores  of  Grenada,  a  sunset  such 
as  I  have  never  seen  in  any  land  before 
was  presented  to  us.  My  travelling  com- 
panion, who  had  circled  the  globe  twice, 
told  me  he  had  never  witnessed  its  equal. 
Softly  drawn  before  our  eyes  as  though 
by  some  unseen  hands,  the  spectrum  of 
the  sun  in  hues  of  soft  radiance  and 
beauty  lingers  a  few  moments  before  all 
is  dark. 


XIII. 

TRINIDAD — FIRST   GLIMPSES 

IT  is  the  early  dawn  of  a  tropical  morn- 
ing. For  some  hours  our  boat,  the 
Solent,  has  been  skirting  the  shores 
of  the  beautiful  island  of  Trinidad. 
Then,  as  if  in  response  to  the  morn's 
welcome,  we  proudly  steam  into  the 
harbor.  The  peace  of  the  island  is 
slowly  awakened  by  the  soft  caressing 
rays  of  the  golden  sun  ;  as  though  afraid 
to  disturb  such  tranquillity,  its  disk 
lingers  behind  the  three  great  peaks 
which  suggested  to  Columbus  the  Trin- 
ity and  gave  to  the  island  its  name — 
Trinidad. 

We  were  soon  being  rowed  to  shore 
by   half    a   dozen   strong   negroes.     It 
s  65 


66       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

must  be  remembered  that  in  these  im- 
mediate waters,  where  the  dredging 
machine  is  still  unknown,  a  ship  dares 
not  approach  too  near  the  shore. 

The  streets  of  Port  au  Spain,  the 
capital  and  chief  city  of  the  island,  are 
well  laid  out,  and  we  were  surprised  at 
the  commercial  importance  a  city  in 
this  far  out  of  the  way  land  can  attain. 
Large  business  houses,  the  results  of 
modern  civilization,  are  on  either  side 
of  the  street,  and  we  were  passing  an 
intelligent-looking  people,  with  an  air 
of  refinement,  worldliness,  and  culture, 
far  different  from  what  one  generally 
sees  in  these  southern  countries.  Thanks 
be  to  England,  for  she  has  planted  in 
this  remote  corner  of  the  globe  the 
civilization  and  advantages  of  modern 
Europe. 

Yet  in  sharp  contrast  to  all  this,  and 
what  appeared  to  me  to  be  as  incongru- 
ous as  would  the  slow  lengthy  treading 
of  a  camel  on  Broadway,  are  the  East 


FIRST    GLIMPSES  67 

Indian  coolies  engaged  in  their  daily 
routine  of  work.  Had  we  not  been  pre- 
pared for  such  a  scene  it  must  have  in- 
deed startled  us.  The  first  question  a 
person  asks  is,  How  does  the  coolie  find 
himself  on  these  shores  ?  England,  re- 
alizing the  necessity  of  agricultural  de- 
velopment, and  finding  a  scarcity  of 
good  labor  in  Trinidad,  took  advantage 
of  the  unique  opportunity  which  pre- 
sented itself  in  the  transplanting  of  these 
people  from  the  far  East  to  another 
Southern  home. 

The  contract  which  the  planter  who 
imports  these  coolies  through  the  Gov- 
ernment must  enter  into,  is  made  first 
with  the  Government  itself,  and  secondly 
with  the  coolie.  England  in  the  case 
of  the  coolie  maintains  herself  rightful 
protector  against  his  master,  in  much 
the  same  way  as  she  extends  protector- 
ate over  foreign  colonies  in  Africa, 
though  on  better  grounds.  The  coolie 
must  be  well  cared  for  by  the  master,  to 


68       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

whom  he  is  indentured  for  a  term  of 
five  years,  after  which  he  is  free  to 
choose  his  own  course.  During  the 
time  of  his  indenture  he  is  paid  about 
thirteen  cents  for  each  working  day, 
six  days  in  the  week  being  stipulated 
as  the  number  the  coolie  must  work. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  time  he  may 
be  transported  back  to  India,  if  he  so 
choose,  or,  what  is  more  frequently  the 
case,  for  a  small  sum  he  may  buy  con- 
siderable ground  from  the  Government 
and  enter  into  the  farming  business  for 
himself.  In  the  allotment  of  the  coolies 
after  their  importation  from  India,  great 
care  is  taken  not  to  break  up  families. 
On  the  whole,  this  arrangement  seems 
a  commendable  one,  doing  well  for 
the  coolie,  who  is  overburdened  and 
poverty-stricken  in  his  over-populated 
home,  and  bringing  him  to  a  country  of 
vast  resources  and  great  wealth,  which 
is  only  waiting  to  be  developed.  There 
are  many  thousands  of  coolies  living  in 


FIRST    GLIMPSES  69 

Trinidad,  besides  a  great  many  in  Brit- 
ish Guiana  and  other  South  American 
countries. 

We  paid  a  visit  to  the  Trinidad  Club, 
finding  that  club  life  in  the  West  Indies 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  better 
class  of  society.  Here  one  will  some- 
times encounter  people  such  as  one 
finds  at  the  Savoy  in  London,  and  the 
Opera  in  Paris,  and  meets  in  the  best 
drawing-rooms  both  in  Europe  and 
America.  The  clubs  are  very  much  the 
same  as  those  we  are  accustomed  to, 
with  this  great  advantage  over  ours,  in 
being  more  hospitable  and  frank,  and 
in  general  truer  to  the  tastes  and  desires 
of  gentlemen. 

We  refreshed  ourselves  with  a  light 
breakfast,  taken  beneath  the  dark  blue 
sky  on  the  open  verandah.  A  pleasant 
and  most  charming  custom  indeed  ! 
Here,  hid  by  the  screenage  of  rich  palms 
and  exotics,  lingering  over  our  cigars 
and  coffee,  the  first  officer  of  the  Solent 


7O       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

and  I  decided  to  spend  the  day  in  an 
outing  among  the  mountains  of  this, 
the  most  beautiful  island  of  the  Indian 
seas. 


XIV. 

TRINIDAD WANDERINGS    ABOUT    PORT 

AU    SPAIN 

ONE  should  not  leave  Trinidad 
without  spending  some  time  in 
the  places  of  which  Charles  Kingsley 
in  his  book  on  the  Indies  speaks  so  en- 
chantingly,  so  our  good  friend  the  offi- 
cer told  our  negro  groom  to  proceed  to 
these  points. 

After  leaving  the  club  we  drove  tow- 
ard the  Trinidad  market-place,  pass- 
ing through  the  principal  business 
streets.  The  tinkling  of  a  bell  on  a 
single  mule  pulling  a  worn-out  looking 
yellow  street-car,  reminded  us  that  we 
were  in  the  land  of  time  and  leisure. 

I  have  usually  found  that  the  shop 


72        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

windows  in  a  place  show  the  tastes  of  its 
people,  and  here,  noting  the  many  im- 
ported wares  on  display,  it  was  not  hard 
to  realize  that  these  people,  though  liv- 
ing in  the  torrid  zone,  enjoy  the  com- 
forts and  luxuries  of  Europe. 

After  a  while  we  saw  a  long  wooden 
building  with  a  great  glass  roof,  and 
surrounded  by  a  large  yard.  This  is 
the  famous  market-place.  It  was  still 
early  in  the  morning,  and  hither  we 
found  the  coolies  coming  from  the 
country,  many  having  walked  many 
miles  to  offer  their  vegetables  and  wares 
for  sale.  Here  were  coolies  sitting  in 
the  same  posture  as  we  find  the  mer- 
chant in  Constantinople,  and  bargaining 
in  the  most  decided  manner  even  over 
the  most  trivial  things. 

They  deal  in  cloth,  jewelry,  shoes, 
hardware,  in  truth,  one  could  purchase 
from  them  almost  anything  from  an  In- 
dian filigree  ring  to  an  English  sewing 
machine.  The  mass  of  the  people  at 


S 


COOLIE  BARBERS,  TRINIDAD. 


WANDERINGS  ABOUT  PORT  AU  SPAIN      73 

the  market  are  coolies,  though  we 
noticed  a  sprinkling  of  negroes  among 
them. 

After  purchasing  a  few  odd  articles 
we  went  on  to  the  museum.  Here  are 
all  sorts  of  specimens  from  the  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms,  repre- 
senting both  the  present  and  past  of  the 
islands.  It  is  thrilling  indeed,  to  hold 
in  one's  hand  an  awful  scorpion,  the 
very  one  perhaps  whose  bite  has  sent 
many  to  the  grave  ;  or  to  stroke  the 
boa  constrictor,  the  terror  of  the  peo- 
ple. Many  are  the  stories  I  heard  told 
during  my  sojourn  in  South  America  of 
how  this  reptile,  after  fascinating  its 
prey,  hurls  itself  upon  it,  only  to  result 
in  the  sure  death  of  its  victim. 

Here  too  were  butterflies  more  beau- 
tiful than  I  had  ever  imagined,  and 
fossils  and  shells  representing  the  pre- 
historic age  of  the  island  ;  also  there  lay 
scattered  about  the  rooms  tools  and  im- 
plements belonging  to  the  Stone  Age, 


74       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

and  showing  the  customs  and  arts  of  the 
Caribs  during  that  period. 

From  the  museum  we  drove  to  the 
residence  part  of  Port  au  Spain,  skirt- 
ing the  great  Savannah  on  the  way. 
This  open  space  covers  a  considerable 
area  bordering  on  the  fashionable 
street  leading  to  the  Government  House 
and  the  Botanical  Gardens.  It  is  a 
place  of  much  importance  to  the  gen- 
eral populace  of  the  city.  Here  are 
held  the  open-air  political  meetings,  the 
championship  tourneys,  tennis  games, 
and  horse-racing. 

The  best  houses  are  on  the  Savannah  ; 
it  is  where  the  old  English  aristocracy 
established  itself. 

But  the  old  colonial  institutions  are 
fast  decaying,  and  the  English  popula- 
tion now  prefer  England  to  Trinidad. 

The  Government  House  is  the  resi- 
dence of  the  governor  of  the  island, 
and  is  a  palace  fit  for  the  ruler  of  any 
empire.  It  stands  in  the  midst  of  a 


WANDERINGS  ABOUT  PORT  AU  SPAIN      75 

fine  park  with  fountains,  and  grounds 
for  tennis  and  cricket.  Charles  Kings- 
ley  has  made  it  the  background  for 
many  interesting  incidents.  I  was  so 
fortunate  as  to  attend  a  ball  given  by 
the  governor,  in  which,  under  the  ban- 
ner of  England,  were  gathered  men  and 
women  from  every  clime.  I  met  repre- 
sentatives from  South  America,  travel- 
lers from  the  Far  East,  officers  from  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  other  officers 
well  able  to  represent  the  dignity  of  our 
own  beloved  country.  What  a  scene 
for  a  romance  under  the  palms  in  the 
park  that  beautiful  moonlight  night,  as 
the  faint  strains  of  sweet  music  fell  on 
the  ear  !  Well,  perhaps  there  was  one  ! 
After  leaving  the  Government  House 
we  took  a  stroll  through  the  Botanical 
Gardens.  So  much  has  been  written 
and  said  of  these  that  I  dare  say  they 
are  not  unfamiliar  to  my  readers.  The 
Gardens  are  maintained  by  the  English 
Government  at  a  considerable  expense. 


76        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

The  chief  purpose  is  to  try  experiments 
in  the  cultivation  of  different  trees, 
plants,  shrubs,  and  numbers  of  other 
sub-divisions  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
It  is  a  most  important  branch  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  in  London. 
Trinidad  has  the  honor  to  boast  of  the 
grandest  and  most  luxuriant  Gardens 
in  the  world  ;  although,  as  mentioned 
once  before  in  this  book,  those  of  Mar- 
tinique are  by  their  natural  advantages 
very  much  superior. 

It  was  growing  toward  noon  ;  the 
ball  of  fire  above  us  was  asserting  itself 
more  and  more  strongly.  The  birds  in 
the  trees  stopped  chirruping  and  be- 
took themselves  to  rest.  Here,  in  a 
grove  of  mangoes  overlooking  the  coffee 
fields,  we  made  a  halt  for  luncheon. 

Luncheon  over,  our  cigars  were 
lighted.  The  officer  began  telling  me 
of  his  travels  in  the  Indian  Archipelago; 
how,  when  lieutenant  of  Her  Majesty's 
good  ship  Lark,  he  was  ordered  by  the 


WANDERINGS  ABOUT  PORT  AU  SPAIN      77 

captain  to  make  a  survey  of  one  of  the 
remote  islands.  Toward  night  the  party 
became  lost  in  the  thick  fogs  and  under- 
brush. But  I  cannot  finish  the  story. 
I  fell  asleep  at  that  point  and  dreamed 
not  of  jealous  nations  ruling  the  earth 
and  fighting  for  the  balance  of  power, 
but  of  one  great  land  where  all  is  peace 
and  contentment. 


XV. 

TRINIDAD,    A    MINIATURE    OF 
HINDUSTAN 

T  AM  awakened  from  my  slumber  by 
•*  my  companion,  who  assures  me 
that  it  is  time  for  us  to  start.  It  is 
much  later  and  the  heat  has  abated. 
The  soft  trade-winds  are  refreshing. 
So  off  we  drive  through  forests  of 
mango  and  mahogany,  skirted  by  cit- 
ron and  bamboo,  to  Coolie-Town,  and 
thence  to  Blue  Basin,  our  final  stop- 
ping-place. We  are  no  "longer  on  the 
level  prairie,  but  climb  the  rough  roads 
among  the  mountains.  The  slopes, 
covered  with  thick  tropical  vegetation, 
are  luxuriant.  We  make  our  way 
through  jungles  so  thick  that  it  be- 
78 


A  MINIATURE  OF  HINDUSTAN         79 

comes  quite  dark,  and  again  burst  out 
into  the  broad  daylight.  We  pass  plan- 
tations of  sugar  and  coffee.  The  offi- 
cer tells  me  much  about  these  people. 

There  is  almost  always  a  sad  expres- 
sion on  their  faces.  I  noticed  this  even 
amongst  the  younger  ones  ;  something 
dreamy  and  far-away  that  I  could  never 
understand.  Could  this  have  been 
handed  down  from  former  generations  ? 
The  coolies'  lot  in  India  has  always 
been  a  hard  one,  obliged  as  they  were 
to  suffer  from  want  of  food  and  from 
the  tyrannical  rule  of  a  despotic  govern- 
ment. Perhaps  their  patient  forbearance 
has  recorded  itself  in  the  facial  lines  of 
this  sad,  transplanted  people. 

The  East  Indian  is  a  graceful  being, 
soft-skinned,  and  with  movements  of 
perfect  ease.  The  women  have  long 
black  silky  hair  which  ordinarily  they 
let  fall  down  their  backs.  Their  robe 
is  one  of  the  utmost  simplicity  and 
beauty,  somewhat  resembling  the  toga 


8o       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

of  ancient  Rome.  It  is  made  up  of 
long  rolls  of  white  cotton  cloth,  dis- 
posed in  graceful  folds.  The  arm  is 
left  bare,  as  well  as  the  upper  bosom 
and  the  lower  half  of  the  limbs.  I 
have  seen  many  of  these  people  wear 
this  simple  costume  far  more  gracefully 
than  their  northern  sisters  carry  their 
Worth  gowns. 

Bracelets,  curiously  wrought  of  sil- 
ver, ornament  the  arms  and  lower  limbs. 
One  woman  I  saw  wore  as  many  as 
three  dozen.  Odd-shaped  rings  in  the 
likeness  of  serpents  and  animals  be- 
deck the  fingers  and  toes.  The  cos- 
tume of  the  men  is  simple  ;  trousers  of 
white  duck  and  a  short  coat,  or,  more 
often,  mere  strips  of  white  cotton  about 
the  loins.  The  latter  alone  constitutes 
the  costume  of  a  majority  of  the  men. 

We  have  now  entered  Coolie-Town, 
so  let  us  dismount  and  walk  about  so 
as  to  observe  the  place  more  closely. 
This  is  a  miniature  of  life  in  India. 


A  MINIATURE  OF  HINDUSTAN         8l 

The  houses  are  built  of  bamboo  with 
open  spaces  for  doors  and  windows. 
Usually  the  house  is  divided  into  two 
rooms,  one  for  sleeping  and  the  other 
for  cooking.  The  shops  appear  the 
same  as  the  residence  houses.  In  front, 
by  the  door,  usually  sit  the  merchants. 
Among  them  are  many  silversmiths  en- 
gaged in  turning  silver  into  rings,  brace- 
lets, and  other  ornaments.  In  this  we 
discover  the  true  cause  of  the  women's 
display  of  jewelry  ;  it  represents  the 
assets  of  their  husbands'  business. 

Before  leaving  the  town  I  observed  a 
tall  man  with  white  robes  and  graceful, 
dignified  bearing,  enter  a  large  house 
built  more  artistically  than  the  others 
and  a  little  apart  on  a  knoll.  Heavy 
portieres  of  rich  red  silk  hung  about 
the  large  doors.  Something  about  the 
man  impressed  me  very  much.  His 
face  was  one  of  intelligence,  learning, 
and  refinement — the  very  seat  of  seri- 
ousness. I  paused  in  front  of  the  place 

6 


82        VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

and  would  probably  have  entered  had 
not  my  friend  come  to  me  hurriedly  and 
explained  that  I  was  standing  before  the 
holy  temple,  and  that  for  one  not  of  their 
faith  to  enter  is  great  sacrilege.  But 
through  the  curtains,  left  partially  open, 
I  saw  before  the  altar  men  and  women 
in  prayer.  A  faint  light  is  reflected 
from  an  old  colored  bronze  lamp,  and 
their  gods  rest  on  the  table,  flowers, — 
representing  life, — being  strewed  about 
the  room. 

Is  it  not  remarkable  that  these  peo- 
ple, after  leaving  home,  friends,  and 
country,  should  still  keep  to  their  relig- 
ion as  closely  as  ever  ?  The  coolie  is 
well  built,  agile,  and  graceful.  The 
negro,  though  powerful,  is  clumsy  and 
ignorant.  No  wonder  these  races  do 
not  amalgamate.  We  hear  of  no  inter- 
marriages, there  are  no  social  relations 
between  the  two. 

In  speaking  of  the  coolie,  I  must  not 
fail  to  mention  his  cousins  of  the  far 


A  MINIATURE  OF  HINDUSTAN        83 

East,  the  Chinese  coolies.  These  too 
have  found  a  home  in  Trinidad.  Al- 
though not  so  numerous  as  the  East 
Indians,  they  are  increasing  steadily. 
They  take  to  agriculture,  and  in  dispo- 
sition are  quiet,  sullen,  or  sad.  Seldom 
do  we  find  a  smile  lighting  their  coun- 
tenances. 

Taking  to  our  carriage  again,  we  were 
soon  driving  through  rich  tropical  for- 
ests on  our  way  to  Blue  Basin.  We  had 
not  time  to  visit  the  famous  pitch  lake, 
situated  in  another  part  of  the  island, 
from  which  the  asphalt  used  all  over 
the  world  is  mined.  The  lake  is  com- 
posed entirely  of  this  pitch,  and  as  soon 
as  any  is  taken  away,  fresh  pitch  from 
underneath  arises  to  take  its  place. 

We  pass,  on  the  roadside,  fair  coolie 
women,  often  carrying  baskets  on  their 
heads.  It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  see  the 
look  of  interest  enlivening  their  faces 
as  we  approach,  and  their  gracious  nods 
and  smiles. 


84       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Thus  we  travelled  On,  working  our 
way  into  the  mountains  for  some  time, 
till,  at  first  faintly,  then  more  clearly, 
we  heard  the  rush  of  a  great  fall  of 
water.  Dismounting,  we  climbed  up 
the  mountain  side  ;  there,  leaning  from 
a  precipice,  we  saw  dashing  over  a 
ledge  of  rocks  a  stream  of  silver  water 
which  finds  peace  and  quiet  in  yonder 
blue  pool  in  the  depths  below. 

But  it  was  getting  late  and  we  knew 
we  must  not  delay.  The  thick  forests 
of  the  Indies  are  not  the  safest  place 
in  the  world  at  night.  The  soft  light 
of  the  evening  was  falling.  By  the 
rays  of  the  moon  we  threaded  our  way 
along  the  road  through  the  forest  and 
up  and  down  the  mountains. 

Such  a  scene  inspires  the  sense  of 
awe.  As  one  of  our  great  philosophers 
said  :  "  Man  can  best  appreciate  his 
insignificance  in  comparison  with  the 
grandeur  of  Nature." 


XVI. 

CURACAO,    THE    HOLLAND   OF    THE 
SOUTHERN    SEAS. 

\17AFTED  by  the  gentle  breeze  of 
*  *  the  trade-winds  a  germ  of  Hol- 
land has  sprung  up  in  this  remote 
corner  of  the  world  ;  and  like  a  fresh 
twig  in  spring  Curacao  has  taken'  root 
and  flourished  in  these  southern  waters. 
No  city  I  have  ever  seen  so  resembles 
the  cities  of  Holland  as  Willemstad,  the 
capital.  Leading  from  a  lagoon  which 
forms  the  harbor,  canals  extend  through 
the  city  in  all  directions,  with  quaint 
bridges  connecting  the  land  on  either 
side.  The  typical  Holland  scull-boat 
has  its  home  in  these  waters.  We  see 
flying  in  the  harbor  the  flags  of  all 
85 


86       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

nations.  Large  iron-clad  vessels  lie 
side  by  side  with  small  sailing  craft. 
Cura9ao  is  the  one  place  among  these 
Islands,  outside  of  St.  Lucia,  where  our 
boat  was  able  to  draw  up  to  the  pier. 

The  houses,  too,  are  an  exact  repro- 
duction of  those  built  in  Holland,  with 
slanting  red-tiled  roofs,  clean  white- 
washed sides,  dark  green  shutters  ;  and 
the  people  themselves  dress  the  same  as 
their  brothers  across  the  water.  The 
girls  and  boys  wear  the  heavy  wooden 
shoes  ;  the  girls  look  very  pretty  indeed 
with  that  peculiar  white  linen  head-gear 
of  the  Dutch,  and  with  their  short  skirts 
and  white  stockings.  Many  of  the  men 
still  wear  knickerbockers,  with  silver 
buttons  and  white  hose. 

Curagao  is  by  far  the  cleanest  and 
most  inviting  country  I  visited  on  this 
trip.  The  very  air  seems  fresh  and 
stimulating  in  comparison  with  that 
experienced  elsewhere  in  these  parts. 

It  was  with  pleasure  I  accepted  the 


HOLLAND  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS      87 

invitation  of  Consul  Smith  to  take  a 
little  trip  with  him  in  his  yacht  about 
the  canals  and  around  the  shores  of  the 
island.  We  visited  cane  fields,  and 
orange  groves,  where  the  peel  of  the 
orange  is  converted  into  that  famous 
liqueur  called  Curacao. 

The  island,  which  is  small  and  for  the 
most  part  barren,  is  composed  largely 
of  phosphates.  These  are  shipped  in 
large  quantities  to  the  different  markets 
of  the  world,  the  Government  deriving 
at  least  half  a  million  dollars  a  year 
therefrom. 

There  is  not  a  spring  nor  a  well  there, 
nor  any  fresh  water,  the  inhabitants  be- 
ing entirely  dependent  upon  rain-water 
for  existence  ;  and  as  it  sometimes  does 
not  rain  for  a  year  or  two,  the  natural 
supply  is  often  exhausted,  and  the  peo- 
ple are  obliged  to  resort  to  water  brought 
in  barrels  by  schooners  from  the  Vene- 
zuelan coast,  fully  90  miles  away. 

The   streets  are   well-paved   and   as 


88       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

clean  as  the  boulevards  of  Paris.  The 
country  roads  are  hard  and  well-built. 
The  entire  place  has  about  it  an  air  of 
success.  Everybody  seems  happy  and 
well  pleased  with  life  ;  how  different  in 
this  respect  from  their  neighbors  the 
negroes  of  the  Islands  !  The  greater 
part  of  the  population  of  Curapao  is 
also  negro  ;  but,  due  partially  perhaps 
to  its  natural  advantages,  they  seemed 
to  me  to  be  of  a  more  thrifty  sort. 

At  the  shops  I  purchased  several  bits 
of  jewelry  wrought  in  the  peculiar  Dutch 
style.  A  great  many  of  the  names  above 
the  shops  have  a  "  Van  "  as  a  prefix. 

There  are  many  churches  in  Curacao, 
and  morality  is  said  to  have  attained  a 
higher  degree  here  than  at  the  other 
Islands  we  have  visited.  As  regards  the 
general  morality  of  the  West  Indies, 
perhaps  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  for 
me  to  say  that  the  negro's  sense  of  what 
is  right  and  what  is  wrong  is  dictated 
by  his  feelings  and  not  by  his  con- 


HOLLAND  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SEAS     89 

science.  His  conscience  is  still  in  the 
embryonic  condition,  and  it  will  require 
some  years  of  experience  to  make  it 
strong  enough  for  his  actions  to  be 
ruled  by  his  mind.  A  friend  of  mine 
who  had  lived  for  many  years  in  the 
Indies  and  had  seen  and  studied  the 
negro,  told  me  that  he  would  almost  as 
soon  leave  his  family  near  the  dens  of 
wild  animals  as  to  leave  them  on  his 
estate,  remote  from  the  foreign  settle- 
ments, without  the  presence  of  himself 
or  his  friends.  Of  course  this  is  exagger- 
ated, but  it  only  tends  to  show  the  feel- 
ings of  the  colonist  toward  the  negro. 


XVII. 

LA    GUAYRA FIRST    SCENES    IN 

VENEZUELA 

A  PUFF  of  smoke,  then  a  roar  which 
is  echoed  and  re-echoed  through 
the  valleys,  announced  our  arrival  in 
Venezuela.  Before  us  rose  boldly  the 
mountains  of  the  Northeastern  Andes, 
a  Venezuela  coast  range,  crowned  by 
the  Silla  de  Caracas,  a  peak  rising  to 
the  height  of  8600  feet.  The  city  of 
La  Guayra,  which  is  one  of  the  three 
principal  seaports  of  Venezuela,  lies 
nestled  at  the  foot  of  this  great  ridge  of 
mountains.  From  our  boat  in  the  har- 
bor it  looked  like  a  Lilliputian  village 
in  the  land  of  the  Giants. 

There  was   much   official   ceremony 
90 


FIRST  SCENES  IN  VENEZUELA         91 

and  display  of  military  authority  con- 
nected with  our  landing,  a  part  of  the 
routine  which  every  one  is  obliged  to 
go  through  before  he  may  land  in 
Venezuela. 

First  a  little  boat  carrying  a  yellow 
flag  brings  on  board  the  quarantine 
officer.  He  ascertains  from  which  ports 
we  come,  whether  all  these  ports  are 
free  from  being  quarantined,  and  if 
there  is  any  sickness  aboard.  If,  after 
his  scrutiny,  all  is  well,  we  are  met  by 
the  military  officer  and  then  again  by 
the  master  of  the  port. 

On  landing,  all  our  goods  must  be 
examined  by  the  custom-house  officers. 
Then  each  one  of  us  in  person  must  go 
through  an  examination,  and  papers 
have  to  be  signed.  I  was  saved  all 
these  annoyances  by  my  friend  the 
Marquis  Montelo,  who  is  a  Spaniard 
by  birth  and  knows  well  how  to  handle 
such  people. 

The  Marquis  and  I  had  already  de- 


92       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

cided  on  the  kind  of  trip  we  wished  to 
take  through  Venezuela  ;  we  had  ar- 
ranged, among  other  things,  a  visit  to 
the  then  U.  S.  Consul,  General  Thomas, 
who  has  been  since  made  minister,  so 
as  to  ascertain  if  the  presence  of  yellow 
fever  would  keep  us  away  from  any  of 
the  places  we  might  wish  to  visit. 

On  entering  the  harbor  I  noticed  a 
huge  structure  of  masonry  built  for 
the  purpose  of  breaking  the  sea  as  it 
rolls  in  towards  Macuto, — since  Nature 
has  not  been  kind  enough  to  this  sea- 
port town  to  build  it  a  harbor  in  which 
ships  can  anchor  without  danger  of 
being  injured  or  going  ashore. 

This  great  breakwater  was  built  by 
an  English  company,  which  for  its  ex- 
pense and  trouble  is  allowed  a  certain 
per  cent,  of  the  revenue  collected  as  its 
share.  I  met  the  manager  of  the  Com- 
pany, who  talked  interestingly  to  me 
and  gave  me  much  information  regard- 
ing the  English,  German,  and  other 


FIRST  SCENES  IN  VENEZUELA         93 

foreign  enterprises  in  Venezuela.  He 
told  me  that  he  regretted  having  ever 
sunk  any  money  in  Venezuela  him- 
self, and  that  the  breakwater  was  not 
financially  successful.  He  spoke  also 
of  the  railroad  which  runs  from  La 
Guayra  to  Cardcas,  a  distance  in  a 
straight  line  over  the  mountains  of  only 
six  miles,  but  from  the  necessity  of 
winding  around  the  valley  so  as  to  gain 
access  above,  the  distance  is  lengthened 
fourfold.  This  railroad,  likewise,  was 
built  by  an  English  syndicate,  and,  as 
I  later  learned  in  Cardcas  from  Sir 
Vincent  who  represented  the  Company, 
they  were  assured  a  certain  per  cent,  of 
interest  on  the  money  invested,  which 
up  to  that  time,  he  told  me,  they  had 
not  been  able  to  obtain  in  full  from  the 
Government.  It  may  not  be  out  of  place 
for  me  to  remark  here  that  one  of  the 
greatest  disadvantages  the  present  Gov- 
ernment has  to  contend  with  is  the  ex- 
istence of  contracts  and  agreements 


94       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

entered  into  by  the  previous  ruler, 
President  Blanco,  with  various  cor- 
porations and  syndicates,  which  are 
thoroughly  impracticable. 

After  our  baggage  had  been  examined 
it  was  shipped  at  once  to  Macuto,  a 
small  town  about  six  miles  from  La 
Guayra.  Macuto  is  the  Newport  of 
Venezuela,  and  hither  come  all  the  rich 
and  fashionable  from  Caracas  and  other 
cities  of  the  country.  As  this  happened 
to  be  the  seasonable  time,  and  as  the 
Marquis  is  well  acquainted  among  the 
prominent  South  American  families,  I 
agreed  with  him  that  it  was  best  to  stay 
at  Macuto  for  a  few  days  before  going 
to  Caracas. 

On  walking  up  from  the  quays  at  La 
Guayra,  I  was  at  once  impressed  by 
the  typical  South  American  streets, 
narrow  and  roughly  laid  with  cobble- 
stones. The  houses  on  both  sides  sel- 
dom stood  over  two  stories,  and  in 
many  cases  the  people  could  shake 


FIRST  SCENES  IN  VENEZUELA         95 

hands  from  window  to  window  across 
the  way.  There  is  no  regular  plan  laid 
out  for  the  streets,  but  they  run  in  all 
directions.  The  city  being  built  at  the 
very  base  of  the  great  mountains  is  hilly, 
in  many  places  even  precipitous. 

The  houses  are  not  well  built,  being 
usually  of  rough  stone  plastered  over 
with  a  sort  of  cement.  They  are  roofed 
with  dirty-looking  red  tiles,  and  lack 
the  neat  shutters  we  observed  in 
Curapao.  An  iron  balcony  stands  out 
from  the  upper  windows.  This  is  typi- 
cal of  the  South  American  houses. 
The  shops  are  not  much  to  boast  of. 
Their  articles  are  displayed  in  a  miscel- 
laneous manner  in  the  windows  and 
lack  neatness  and  system — a  character- 
istic of  many  of  the  people  also. 

La  Guayra,  being  a  seaport  town,  is 
quite  a  lively  place,  and  considerable 
commerce  is  carried  on  in  coffee,  sugar, 
cocoa,  hides,  and  other  products.  There 
are  some  very  large  warehouses  stocked 


g6       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

well  with  the  country's  products  from 
all  sections. 

Public  buildings  may  be  seen  here  and 
there,  but  as  a  whole  the  city  does  not 
present  a  very  picturesque  appearance. 

We  called  on  our  American  friend, 
Mr.  Thomas,  the  United  States  Consul, 
and  accepted  an  invitation  from  him  for 
dinner.  His  home  is  situated  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  on  a  high  hill 
overlooking  the  port.  It  is  built  in  the 
Spanish  style  with  pretty  patio  or  court, 
having  a  splashing  fountain  surrounded 
by  palms  and  exotics.  It  is  a  delight- 
fully cool  and  remarkably  pleasant 
place. 

Before  going  to  Macuto  we  went  to 
the  harbor  and  bade  farewell  to  our 
pleasant  companions  on  the  Solent. 
The  boat  grew  smaller  in  the  distance 
until  nothing  remained  but  a  pleasant 
memory  and  a  trail  of  smoke. 


XVIII. 

MACUTO,    THE   NEWPORT    OF 
VENEZUELA 

PHE  small  dark    cars  which  carried 
us  to  Macuto  corresponded  with 
the   railroad    itself,   which    had    been 
built  some  years  ago,  and  was  a  tumble- 
down, shaky  affair. 

Macuto  lies  only  about  six  miles 
from  La  Guayra,  yet  it  took  us  nearly 
an  hour  to  reach  our  destination.  The 
engine  broke  four  times  on  the  way 
thither,  and  each  time  all  the  passengers 
took  a  hand  in  repairing.  To  call  the 
two  rails  that  run  side  by  side  parallel 
would  be  offering  insult  to  geometry. 

This  was   my   first  experience  on  a4 
South  American  railway,  but  later  the 
97 


98       VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

railroads  which  run  into  the  country 
for  long  distances  and  over  dangerous 
passes  astonished  me.  The  great  feats 
of  civil  engineering  and  the  expendi- 
ture in  making  these  roads  are  some- 
thing for  Venezuela  to  boast  of. 

Arriving  at  Macuto,  we  took  quarters 
at  a  hotel  facing  the  sea,  the  principal 
feature  of  the  same  being  a  wide  veranda 
running  all  the  way  around,  giving  it 
the  appearance  of  an  Italian  villa. 
Although  rather  roughly  built,  yet  the 
delicate  colors  in  which  it  is  painted 
and  the  artistic  manner  in  which  the 
rooms  open  upon  the  verandas,  together 
with  its  situation  at  the  base  of  the 
great  mountains,  make  it  a  charming 
place  indeed. 

At  dinner  I  noted  a  man  of  very 
striking  appearance,  a  tall  and  hand- 
some young  fellow  of  thirty.  His  face 
showed  that  he  had  endured  consider- 
able hardships,  and  his  chin  had  that 
strength  which  suggested  the  idea  of 


THE  NEWPORT  OF  VENEZUELA       99 

his  having  come  out  successfully  to  his 
own  liking.  I  noticed  that  he  wore  a 
college  pin.  This  brought  back  to  me 
my  own  school  days  and  at  once  put  us 
on  terms  of  friendship.  He  had  re- 
turned a  few  days  before  from  the  gold 
fields  of  the  Orinoco,  where  he  had 
spent  much  of  his  time  for  the  last  ten 
years.  His  health  failing  him  at  col- 
lege, and  his  father's  business  at  the 
same  time  doing  likewise,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  fall  back  on  his  own  resources. 
Leaving  the  luxuries  of  the  life  he  had 
been  accustomed  to,  he  worked  his  way 
in  canoes  with  two  Englishmen  and 
some  Indians  up  the  Orinoco  pn  their 
way  to  the  gold  fields.  The  first  year 
was  unsuccessful,  and  except  for  rein- 
forcements the  idea  would  have  been 
abandoned ;  but  gold  having  been 
found  all  through  that  section  of  the 
country,  they  still  worked  diligently  in 
the  search.  Twice  was  he  taken  down 
with  fever,  and  the  entire  party  was  in- 


100      VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

jured  by  sickness  ;  the  country,  morever, 
was  infested  with  reptiles  and  wild  ani- 
mals, and  many  of  the  roving  Indians 
in  that  territory  were  unfriendly  to 
strangers.  Such  is  a  brief  outline  of 
the  story  he  told  me.  He  was  now 
quite  satisfied  with  what  he  had  accom- 
plished, and,  as  vice-president  of  one 
of  the  large  mining  companies,  was 
returning  to  New  York.  I  learned 
from  him  much  that  was  of  interest  in 
connection  with  the  disputed  territory 
of  this  section,  the  accuracy  of  which 
was  afterwards  confirmed  by  the  Ameri- 
can Minister. 

There  are  many  parks  in  Macuto, 
whose  natural  beauty  is  enhanced  by 
art,  in  which  the  young  people  take 
great  pleasure.  After  the  surf-bathing, 
which  takes  place  at  about  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  the  ladies  all  array 
themselves  in  light  gowns  with  large 
sun-bonnets  and  listen  to  the  military 
band  playing  in  the  Plaza.  Hither 


THE  NEWPORT  OF  VENEZUELA      IOI 

also  stroll  the  beaux  of  the  place,  and 
there  is  an  informal  greeting  and  gen- 
eral good  time.  About  an  hour  later 
the  ladies  disappear,  and  are  not  again 
seen  in  public  until,  say,  five  o'clock, 
when  the  band  again  plays  in  the  Plaza 
and  the  fair  maids,  arrayed  this  time 
entirely  in  black,  their  heads  adorned 
with  the  Spanish  mantilla,  present  a 
more  formal  aspect. 

Spanish  is  the  language  spoken,  and 
although  I  believed  myself  to  have  ac- 
quired some  knowledge  of  it  while  in 
Mexico  and  other  Spanish-speaking 
countries,  I  was  frequently  at  fault  to 
express  my  thoughts.  Some  of  the 
girls  I  met  were  able  to  speak  a  little 
French  or  German.  One  of  these,  in 
whose  company  I  found  myself  fre- 
quently, who  had  had  the  advantages 
of  a  Paris  education,  helped  me  con- 
siderably. There  was  one  phrase  in 
my  Spanish-American  guide-book  which 
I  always  repeated  shortly  after  an  in- 


102      VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

troduction,  with  my  best  accent.  The 
phrase  read  "  Vd(usted)  es  muyamable" 
meaning  "  You  are  charming,"  rightly 
opining  that  these  Southern  queens  are 
just  as  susceptible  to  kind  phrases  as 
are  their  Northern  sisters. 

It  was  with  the  most  pleasant  recol- 
lections and  kindest  feelings  that  we 
bade  adieu  to  our  friends  in  Macuto, 
a  few  days  later,  when  we  left  for  Cara- 
cas, a  gem  in  the  Andes. 


XIX. 

CARACAS,    A    CAPITAL    IN    THE 
VENEZUELAN     ANDES. 

\17ITH  the  tooting  and  screeching  of 
*  *  our  English  locomotives  and  the 
ringing  of  gongs  we  departed  Monday 
afternoon  from  the  railroad  station  at 
La  Guayra  for  Caracas. 

The  cars  were  typical  English  coaches 
and  the  locomotives  also  were  English 
built.  Telegraph  and  telephone  lines 
also  are  in  operation  in  all  the  principal 
cities  of  Venezuela.  A  few  minutes' 
ride  brought  us  to  the  crest  of  the  hill 
overlooking  the  city,  from  whence  we 
obtained  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  place 
at  which  we  had  spent  the  last  few  days. 
But  it  was  not  until  some  minutes  after- 
103 


IO4    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

ward,  in  winding  our  way  up  the  steep 
precipices,  thousands  of  feet  above  the 
sea,  that  we  appreciated  the  magnitude 
of  this  railroad  enterprise  and  its  mar- 
vels of  engineering  and  construction. 
The  St.  Gothard  Pass  in  Switzerland  is 
nothing  in  comparison,  neither  is 
Georgetown  in  Colorado,  nor  the  Mexi- 
can Railroad  which  thunders  down  the 
mountains  from  the  City  of  Mexico  on 
its  way  to  Vera  Cruz.  Like  flies  on  a 
wall  we  scaled  the  dizzy  precipice. 
The  mountains  extended  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach  in  either  direction,  while 
back  of  us,  thousands  of  feet  below, 
rolled  the  blue  sea  with  here  and  there 
a  white  speck  signifying  a  ship  bound 
for  a  distant  port. 

When  a  little  later  our  train  climbed 
over  the  crest,  there  lay  before  us  the 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Rio  Guaire  with 
the  fair  city  of  Caracas  in  its  midst. 

We  were  soon  lodged  in  our  comfort- 
able quarters  at  the  Grand  Hotel,  where 


A  CAPITAL  IN  THE  ANDES          105 

I  met  an  old  travelling  companion.  We 
three  had  a  pleasant  dinner,  comparing 
notes  of  travel  and  discussing  the  recent 
topics  of  the  day,  both  in  Europe  and 
America. 

The  Marquis  called  me  betimes  the 
following  morning,  as  we  had  many 
places  to  visit  and  much  to  do  the  next 
few  days  before  leaving  Caracas.  We 
took  a  Venezuelan  breakfast,  which 
consists  only  of  chocolate  or  coffee, 
rolls,  and  cheese.  This  is  called  the 
early  breakfast.  Toward  noon  the  sub- 
stantial breakfast  is  served,  which  is 
very  much  the  same  as  their  later  din- 
ner. I  have  noticed  as  many  as  eight  or 
sometimes  ten  courses  being  served  at 
ordinary  hotels  at  these  breakfasts  and 
dinners.  As  a  rule  the  cooking  in 
Venezuela  and  the  other  South  Ameri- 
can countries  is  typically  Spanish.  They 
seem  to  know  no  limit  to  the  use  of 
peppers,  garlic,  onions  and  the  like, 
which  are  apt  to  spoil  a  foreigner's  stom- 


106     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

ach  if  he  is  not  very  careful.  The  chilli- 
ness of  the  King  of  Tabasco  might  well 
be  relieved  by  the  seasoning  of  South 
American  food. 

A  very  pretty  custom  observed  in 
these  countries  is  to  serve  the  meals  in 
an  open  patio.  At  dinner  this  is  espe- 
cially pleasant,  under  the  blue  canopy  of 
heaven  set  with  twinkling  stars.  Music 
is  usually  near  to  lend  its  soft  charm  to 
the  hour. 

After  the  light  breakfast  we  started 
out  on  our  wanderings.  My  first  im- 
pressions of  Caracas  came  in  the  form 
of  an  agreeable  surprise.  I  had  always 
heard  of  this  as  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful cities  in  South  America,  yet  I  had 
not  conceived  of  the  grandeur  and  taste 
that  could  be  displayed  in  building  a 
city  in  this  remote  corner  of  the  globe. 
At  the  intersections  of  the  streets  are 
pretty  plazas,  the  most  important  being 
the  Plaza  Bolivar,  which  is  quite  near 
to  the  four  principal  business  streets  of 


A  CAPITAL  IN  THE  ANDES         107 

the  city.  Richard  Harding  Davis  well 
called  Caracas  the  Paris  of  South 
America. 

What  a  foreigner  first  notices  is  the 
decidedly  French  air  of  the  city.  The 
very  names  above  the  shops  and  the 
signs  naming  the  articles  for  sale  are  in 
French.  French  bonnets,  gowns,  neck- 
wear, etc.,  adorn  the  shop  windows. 
There  are  also  a  few  German  enterprises 
in  Caracas,  but  more  especially  among 
the  larger  wholesale  dealers. 

American  interests  are  steadily  grow- 
ing in  Venezuela.  One  of  the  most 
prominent  names  in  commercial  and 
general  importance  in  Caracas  is  that 
of  my  pleasant  acquaintance,  Mr.  Henry 
Boulton,  who,  with  his  brothers,  is  a 
large  importer  of  grain,  breadstuff's,  and 
other  commodities,  and  in  return  exports 
great  quantities  of  coffee,  cocoa,  hides, 
and  other  Venezuelan  products.  These 
brothers  now  run  a  splendidly  equipped 
line  of  steamers  between  Venezuela  and 


IO8     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

New  York,  and  it  is  due  to  their  energy 
and  perseverance  that  a  large  share  of 
the  trade  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Venezuela  have  been  brought 
about.  The  Boultons  have  been  con- 
ducting business  between  these  two 
countries  for  many  years,  dating  back 
to  the  thirties,  when  only  small  sailing 
sloops  were  engaged  for  the  purpose. 

The  city  of  Caracas  I  found  clean 
and  well  kept,  from  the  public  build- 
ings to  the  streets  themselves.  The 
fresh  invigorating  air,  sweeping  down 
from  the  Coast  Range  breathes  a  life  of 
restlessness  and  independence  into  these 
people.  It  is  no  wonder  that  they  were 
among  the  first  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
tyranny  and  subjection. 

The  residence  houses  of  Caracas  are 
principally  one  story  high,  built  of 
adobe  walls  sometimes  two  or  three  feet 
thick,  having  windows  with  iron  grat- 
ings and  broad  sills  where  it  is  the  cus- 
tom late  in  the  afternoon  for  the  pretty 


A  CAPITAL  IN  THE  ANDES         109 

senoritas  to  sit,  arrayed  in  becoming 
toilets,  observing  the  passers-by  and 
chatting  with  their  friends. 

The  interior  of  the  houses  is  always 
in  sharp  contrast  with  their  exterior. 
The  latter  is  modest  and  of  rough  ap- 
pearance, but  entering  the  short  hall- 
way into  the  patio,  is  like  going  into  a 
different  world.  The  patio,  which  usu- 
ally has  a  fountain,  is  surrounded  by 
palms,  ferns,  and  other  tropical  plants. 
Broad  stone  hallways  lead  from  its  space 
to  the  different  rooms  through  arches 
graceful  with  ivy  and  other  creeping 
vines.  I  have  been  in  some  houses  in 
Caracas  the  interiors  of  which  were 
decorated  in  the  most  artistic  and  luxuri- 
ous manner,  Turkish  rugs  covering  the 
floors  and  tapestries  bedecking  the  walls. 
The  water  supply  of  the  city  is  brought 
from  the  mountains  by  means  of  aque- 
ducts, constructed  by  the  former  presi- 
dent, Guzman  Blanco.  Tramways  tra- 
verse some  of  the  streets.  Many  shops 


IIO    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

bear  an  air  of  foreign  relationship,  and 
the  cafes  have  adopted  the  French  cus- 
tom of  setting  small  tables  on  the  broad 
sidewalks,  where  it  is  usual  for  persons 
to  sit  and  read  during  the  long  days, 
sipping  the  different  beverages  of  the 
country. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  town  there  is 
a  sort  of  park  called  El  Puente  Hierro, 
which  has  been  much  improved  of  late 
years.  Here  are  many  cafes,  dance- 
halls  and  other  delights  for  frivolous 
pleasure-seekers.  On  Sunday  afternoon 
it  is  the  fashion  to  take  a  drive  to  this 
park,  when  the  ladies  of  the  better  class 
sit  in  their  carnages  and  listen  to  the 
music,  while  the  peons,  swelling  the 
crowd  and  paying  their  few  coppers 
here  and  there,  have  a  great  holiday. 

The  people  of  Venezuela  do  not  seem 
to  know  what  we  would  call  a  good 
horse.  A  gentleman  at  whose  home  I 
visited,  showed  me  a  horse  which  he  had 
imported  from  Peru  which  was  consid- 


A  CAPITAL  IN  THE  ANDES  III 

ered  a  grand  specimen.  He  had  paid 
two  thousand  dollars  for  the  animal, 
but  I  much  doubt  if  the  same  one  would 
have  brought  more  than  two  hundred  at 
the  New  York  Horse  Exchange. 

Many  of  the  private  carriages  are 
made  in  France,  usually  built  in  the 
style  of  our  victorias,  and  are  certainly 
good  looking.  The  horses  are  small, 
resembling  our  Western  ponies.  The 
bicycle  was  then  almost  unknown  here, 
as  in  many  other  places  in  South  Amer- 
ica, although  I  saw  one  or  two,  which 
were  such  curiosities  that  people  stopped 
their  work  to  follow  the  machines,  and 
the  urchins  of  the  streets  ran  after  them 
shouting  and  yelling. 

The  president  lives  in  an  unpreten- 
tious house  not  far  from  the  business 
part  of  the  city.  In  sharp  contrast  to 
the  modest  appearance  of  his  home,  and 
the  genuineness  and  unpretentiousness 
of  the  man,  is  the  ostentatious  military 
display  with  which  he  is  surrounded.  A 


112     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

group  of  trusty  cowboys,  mounted  on 
horses  and  armed  with  carbines  and 
revolvers,  form  his  especial  body-guard 
and  follow  him  everywhere.  The  presi- 
dent told  me  that  some  of  these  men 
had  been  through  many  daring  engage- 
ments with  him,  and  would  willingly,  at 
any  moment,  sacrifice  themselves  for  the 
life  of  their  ruler.  He  is  now  having 
built,  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  city,  a 
beautiful  house  of  white  stone.  Presi- 
dent Crespo  is  a  man  of  very  moderate 
tastes  and  is  probably  spending  so  much 
money  on  his  home  less  for  his  own 
gratification  than  in  order  to  have  his 
surroundings  more  in  accordance  with 
his  position.  He  has  won  the  favor  of 
the  people  by  living  an  unassuming  life, 
thus  coming  into  closer  connection  with 
the  masses. 


>•/   I 


PRESIDENT  CRESPO,  OF  VENEZUELA. 


XX. 

CARACAS — REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    PAST 
AND    PRESENT. 

THE  day  had  been  unusually  close, 
*  the  sun  shining  through  a  cloud- 
less sky.  Toward  evening,  the  earth 
groaned  forth  its  sighs  of  agony.  The 
people  rushed  from  their  homes  and 
places  of  amusement  only  to  be  dashed 
to  the  ground  and  crushed  beneath  the 
ruins  of  their  crumbling  city.  Such 
was  the  sight  on  the  26th  of  March, 
1812,  when  the  great  earthquake  sur- 
prised the  city  and  destroyed  twelve 
thousand  of  its  people. 

Vainly  did  the  Spanish  rulers  of  the 
province  use  their  cunning  and  deceit 
in  trying  to  make  the  superstitious  peo- 
s  113 


114     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

pie  of  Venezuela  believe  this  an  act  of 
God  to  show  his  vengeance  on  their  up- 
rising against  their  mother-country. 

It  was  but  a  year  previous,  on  the  5th 
of  July,  that  the  great  Miranda,  then  of 
middle  age,  stood  before  a  document 
which  he  had  drawn  upland  with  other 
patriotic  men  of  his  country  signed  a 
declaration  of  independence  for  the 
people  of  Venezuela.  This  was  the 
first  formal  proclamation  of  indepen- 
dence, which  was  soon  after  to  bring 
many  into  battle  and  cause  a  great 
loss  of  life  and  property. 

Much  might  be  said  about  Miranda, 
whose  life  from  beginning  to  end  was 
like  an  invention  of  romance.  It  was 
he,  who,  coming  over  with  Lafayette, 
helped  fight  for  the  American  colonies 
against  the  British  crown.  His  name 
can  be  no  more  suitably  commented 
upon  than  by  placing  it  side  by  side 
with  that  of  Bolivar,  the  great  Liberator 
of  South  America. 


CARACAS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT     115 

It  is  needless  to  speak  of  Bolivar,  who 
spent  his  life  in  the  cause  of  his  country, 
leading  on  the  revolutionists  to  victory 
after  victory.  He  starved  along  with  the 
soldiers,  and  tramped  through  jungles 
in  the  fierce  tropical  sun,  sharing  the 
common  lot  of  all ;  and  at  last,  through 
his  high  aims  and  lofty  character,  ac- 
complished for  South  America  the  lib- 
eration and  independence  of  five  of  its 
great  countries. 

The  Palacio  Federal,  which  is  at 
present  used  as  the  Capitol  building  of 
Venezuela,  is  a  large  picturesque  struc- 
ture, whose  rooms  are  fitted  in  an  ap- 
propriate manner.  Here  are  paintings 
of  the  many  presidents  of  Venezuela, 
and  of  various  generals  and  soldiers 
who  fought  in  the  cause  of  their  country. 
One  could  spend  weeks  studying  the 
relics  of  the  past  in  connection  with 
things  of  the  present.  I  passed  a  few 
hours  in  this  building  in  company  with 
that  eminent  scholar  and  scientist,  Dr. 


Il6     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Adolph  Ernst,  the  greatest  savant  of 
Venezuela,  and  a  man  of  high  reputation 
in  the  scientific  circles  of  both  Europe 
and  America. 

While  in  Caracas  one  should  not  fail 
to  visit  the  home  of  Guzman  Blanco, 
situated  in  the  suburb  of  Antimino.  It 
is  a  palace  fit  for  a  czar  or  emperor.  Sur- 
rounded by  parks  of  rare  beauty,  and  in 
itself  a  grand  and  stately  home,  it  pre- 
sents a  unique  appearance  to  the  visitor. 
The  presidents  have  all  had  their  hands 
quite  full  in  maintaining  their  hold  of 
office.  Continuous  warfare,  due  to 
partisan  jealousies  and  petty  ambi- 
tions, waged  for  the  last  seventy-five 
years,  has  kept  the  country  from  pro- 
gressing more  rapidly. 

As  soon  as  a  president  is  firmly  seat- 
ed a  new  man  will  spring  up  and  claim 
the  power.  Such  has  been  the  common 
experience  in  past  years.  Guzman 
Blanco  alone  ruled  for  nearly  twenty 
years  of  comparative  quiet  and  peace. 


CARACAS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT      1 17 

The  population  of  Caracas  now 
numbers  about  eighty  thousand,  while 
the  country  of  Venezuela  numbers  some 
two  and  a  half  millions.  Of  the  eighty 
thousand,  six  thousand  are  foreigners. 
It  is  said  that  Venezuela  has  fewer  in- 
habitants than  half  a  century  ago,  and 
we  can  well  see  that  when  the  fathers 
and  their  sons  who  are  old  enough  are 
engaged  in  bitter  war  there  is  no  chance 
for  the  population  to  increase. 

It  was  under  President  Jose  Gregorio 
Monagas,  in  March,  1854,  that  the  slaves 
were  liberated,  and  thus  the  country  did 
away  with  one  of  the  great  barbarisms 
of  the  age.  Too  much  stress  cannot  be 
laid  upon  this^important  fact. 

The  color  line,  while  at  present  still 
noticed  in  Venezuela,  is  not  nearly  so 
marked  as  in  the  countries  of  the  North. 
Here  are  often  found  inter- marriages, 
and  it  is  no  breach  of  social  propriety 
for  a  white  person  to  marry  one  having 
a  taint  of  colored  blood. 


Il8    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Nearly  twenty  years  after  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  slaves  and  shortly  after 
Guzman  Blanco  was  made  president,  he 
expelled  the  monks  and  nuns  from  the 
country.  Some  two  or  three  years  later, 
that  wise  and  far-seeing  president,  vexed 
at  certain  actions  of  the  Archbishop,  and 
seeing  that  the  Church  of  Rome  was 
becoming  a  strong  feature  and  a  ruling 
power  of  the  State,  expelled  the  Arch- 
bishop and  papal  nuncio.  Shortly  after 
this  he  issued  that  famous  circular  which 
caused  the  world  to  look  at  him  more 
than  ever.  It  set  forth  that  religious 
actions  are  free  to  everybody,  and  that 
he  as  president  could  not  allow  to  any 
one  religion  advantage  over  another. 

That  there  are  many  churches  in 
Caracas,  the  continual  chiming  of  bells 
both  day  and  night  is  sufficient  to  attest. 
The  cathedral,  a  large  building  of  no 
especial  beauty,  dates  back  to  the  lyth 
century. 

A  newspaper  in  a  foreign  land  is  al- 


CARACAS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT     119 

ways  of  interest.  There  are  seven  news- 
papers in  the  city  of  Caracas,  and  a  few 
of  the  dailies  are  especially  good  as  re- 
gards the  domestic  events  of  the  day, 
though  I  must  say  their  foreign  news  is 
rather  scanty. 

Caracas  has  some  pretty  suburbs, 
among  which  might  be  named  Antimino, 
where  President  Blanco  had  his  former 
home  ;  also  El  Calvario,  a  fine  park  on 
a  hill  overlooking  the  town. 

Before  leaving  the  streets  of  Caracas 
I  must  not  fail  to  mention  a  custom  the 
people  have  of  naming  their  shops.  On 
the  signs  we  read  such  names  as  "  Isle 
of  Emerald,"  "  The  Fountain  of  Glad- 
ness," and  others  still  more  odd.  Some- 
thing similar  to  this,  is  the  custom  of 
naming  the  children  after  patron  saints. 
It  is  not  uncommon  to  .hear  a  mother 
call  her  boy  across  the  street  "  Blessed 
Peter,"  "  Jesus,"  or  other  names  taken 
from  the  Bible.  It  is  also  customary  on 
the  baptism  of  a  child  to  choose  a  god- 


I2O     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

father  for  it.  He  is  supposed  to  care 
for  the  child,  and  acts  in  very  many 
respects  the  same  as  the  natural  parent, 
and  it  is  quite  true  that  there  is  almost 
as  much  affection  shown  between  god- 
parent and  god-son  as  between  father 
and  son. 

One  evening  the  Marquis  and  myself 
went  to  the  Theatre  Municipal.  It  has 
a  seating  capacity  of  2500  and  is  built 
with  much  refinement  of  taste.  As  in 
some  foreign  theatres,  the  lower  galleries 
are  divided  into  boxes.  In  the  rear,  and 
directly  opposite  to  the  stage,  is  the 
president's  private  box,  where  I  saw  the 
president  in  company  with  his  wife  and 
suite  enjoying  the  performance.  The 
parquet  seems  to  be  occupied  only  by 
men,  who  ordinarily  do  not  come  in 
evening  dress,  although  the  people  in 
the  boxes  are  expected  to  be  thus  at- 
tired. 

That  the  Southern  peoples  are  music- 
lovers  has  been  often  noted.  The 


CARACAS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT     121 

smallest  city  of  Mexico  and  South 
America  will  have  a  military  band, 
quite  the  equal  of  our  best  bands. 
There  seems  to  be  a  musical  sentiment 
inborn  in  these  people  which  has  been 
developed  into  genuine  appreciation  of 
the  art. 

On  Thursday  evenings  the  Govern- 
ment military  band  plays  in  the  Plaza, 
where,  coquettishly  wandering  in  the 
shadows,  the  sefioritas  respond  to  their 
suitors.  Before  North  American  cus- 
toms became  introduced  into  Caracas, 
love-making  among  the  best  classes 
of  Venezuelans  was  European  in  char- 
acter. The  suitor  might  not  call  on  his 
lady  unless  some  member  of  the  family 
was  present,  even  down  to  the  very  day 
of  the  marriage,  and  a  breach  of  this 
custom  was  reason  enough  to  lose  the 
respect  of  one's  friends.  But  now  more 
natural  manners  in  this  respect  have 
superseded  the  old,  and  the  cavalier 
sends  his  card  to  the  lady  upon  whom 


122     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

he  wishes  to  call,  just  as  in  the  United 
States. 

While  the  band  is  playing  the  national 
anthem,  I  walk  with  my  friend  to  an- 
other park.  This  plaza  has  no  pretty- 
colored  tiles,  but  instead  there  is  a  car- 
pet of  velvet  grass ;  and  instead  of 
fancy  posts  and  lamps,  the  solemn 
palm  holds  sway.  On  this  night,  as  the 
breeze  carries  to  us  the  strains  of  the 
patriotic  hymn,  we  stop  before  a  statue 
of  George  Washington  erected  by  Gen- 
eral Blanco  after  his  visit  to  the  United 
States  some  years  ago.  As  we  stand  in 
silence  we  cannot  help  feeling  a  strong 
sympathy  and  affection  for  the  people 
of  Venezuela,  who  have  fought  for  inde- 
pendence much  in  the  same  way  as  did 
our  ancestors. 


XXI. 

RAILROADING    IN    VENEZUELA 

A  FTER  having  spent  a  week  in  Cara- 
**•  cas,  I  decided  to  bid  adieu  to 
my  friend  the  Marquis  and  investigate 
further  regarding  the  country  and  its 
people.  There  were  rumors  afloat  of 
yellow  fever  raging  in  the  districts  I 
intended  travelling  through,  and  it  was 
with  no  little  anxiety  that  the  evening 
before  leaving,  while  calling  at  the 
United  States  Minister's  house,  I  in- 
quired regarding  the  report.  It  was  a 
great  relief  to  be  informed  that  the 
health  of  the  country  was  normal  and 
that  I  need  feel  no  special  uneasiness. 

There  are   of  course  nearly  always 
sporadic  cases  of  yellow  fever  in  the 
123 


124     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

tropics.  I  shall  never  forget  one  even- 
ing when  I  entered  Vera  Cruz  from  the 
City  of  Mexico.  I  had  intended  mak- 
ing connection  with  the  French  Trans- 
atlantic boat  on  the  way  to  Cuba,  but 
through  miscalculations  was  obliged 
to  remain  for  some  time  in  this  coast 
town.  It  was  during  the  epidemic  of 
yellow  fever,  and  the  papers  reported 
each  day  a  long  list  of  the  new  victims. 
Such  experiences  are  not  very  frequent, 
but  after  one  has  passed  through  them 
safely,  it  tends  toward  making  him — I 
would  not  say  more  reckless,  but  less 
inclined  to  credit  rumors,  most  of  which 
when  tested  prove  to  be  untrue. 

The  railroad  between  Caracas  and 
Valencia  is  owned  and  operated  by 
German  capitalists.  It  makes  a  day's 
journey  through  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting countries  I  have  ever  visited. 
Soon  after  leaving  Caracas  the  road 
winds  about  the  mountains.  The  fierce 
puffing  and  steaming  of  the  locomotive 


RAILROADING  IN  VENEZUELA      125 

shows  we  are  climbing  a  very  steep 
grade.  Now  the  train  crosses  deep  ra- 
vines spanned  by  iron  bridges  which 
look  in  comparison  with  the  heights 
like  filigree-work.  Another  time  it  flanks 
the  side  of  some  deep  ravine  whose 
slopes  are  clothed  with  thick  jungles 
and  forests  that  spread  a  shade  of  dark- 
ness over  all,  or,  again  climbing  the 
summits  of  highest  mountains,  over 
roads  which  show  the  marvellous  in- 
genuity of  the  civil  engineer. 

After  the  first  few  hours  thus  spent, 
we  entered  a  somewhat  less  hilly  coun- 
try. Green  valleys  and  well-cultivated 
coffee  plantations  spread  before  us  like 
a  panorama. 

Thanks  to  these  and  other  railroads 
which  are  soon  to  be  constructed,  the 
vast  resources  and  riches  of  the  country 
will  be  brought  into  closer  touch  with 
those  great  winged  messengers  of  our 
civilized  world,  the  ocean  steamers. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how  slow  and  ob- 


126    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

stinate  the  peons  are  about  adopting  the 
customs  and  conveniences  of  civiliza- 
tion. Yet  this  trait  is  in  accord  with 
the  nature  and  habit  of  the  general  pop- 
ulation of  South  America.  Many  of 
these  Venezuelans  prefer  to  ride  for 
days  on  the  back  of  a  miserable  little 
burro,  climbing  dangerous  paths,  rather 
than  submit  to  modern  civilization  and 
avail  themselves  of  the  conveniences  of 
the  railroad.  I  have  noticed  many  long 
trains  of  burros,  heavily  laden  with 
coffee,  cocoa,  and  other  articles  of  the 
country,  slowly  and  with  difficulty  bear- 
ing their  produce  to  the  market,  al- 
though it  might  just  as  well  and  more 
cheaply  have  been  sent  over  the  rail. 

Before  passing  from  the  mountain  re- 
gions I  must  not  forget  to  make  mention 
of  the  great  South  American  eagle  which 
we  saw  soaring  high  into  the  clouds 
and  then  floating  leisurely  along.  It  is 
among  these  mountains  that  the  true 
sportsman  most  revels.  Before  my  visit 


RAILROADING  IN  VENEZUELA      127 

to  Venezuela  the  fiercest  game  I  had 
ever  hunted  was  the  wildcat,  or  the 
bear  ;  now  I  can  better  appreciate  the 
feelings  with  which  an  African  or  South 
American  traveller  relates  his  tales  of 
adventure. 

The  distance  of  the  stations  apart  de- 
pends upon  the  country  through  which 
the  road  passes.  One  often  rides  many 
miles  without  coming  to  a  stop.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  a  great  part 
of  Venezuela  is  still  unexplored,  and  a 
greater  part  is  uninhabited.  A  coun- 
try with  an  area  of  six  hundred  thou- 
sand square  miles  and  a  population  of 
only  about  two  and  a  half  million  is  in- 
deed sparingly  peopled.  The  principal 
export  is  coffee,  which  reaches  the 
value  of  many  million  dollars  annually. 
Other  exports  are  cocoa,  hides,  skins, 
feathers,  rubber,  and  gold. 

On  leaving  Caracas  the  cars  were 
rather  well  filled,  but  towards  afternoon 
there  were  comparatively  few  passen- 


128     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

gers  remaining,  most  of  them  having 
reached  their  destination  at  some  of 
the  smaller  stations.  It  was  late  in 
the  afternoon  before  we  skirted  the 
shores  of  Lake  Valencia,  one  of  the 
largest  bodies  of  water  in  Venezuela, 
whose  shores  have  been  the  scene  of 
several  bloody  engagements  during 
revolutions.  There  are  a  few  small 
villages  beside  it,  a  rough  boat  plying 
between  them,  but,  in  correspondence 
with  the  rest  of  the  country,  it  is  little 
utilized. 

A  complete  system  of  long-distance 
telephones  operates  between  cities  and 
towns  along  the  line.  One  can  tele- 
phone from  Valencia  to  Caracas,  with 
less  difficulty  than  from  New  York  to 
Chicago.  It  is  quite  surprising  to  see 
how  quickly  the  people  have  taken  to 
the  telephone  ;  a  great  many  of  the  resi- 
dences both  in  Caracas  and  Valencia 
have  their  long-distance  wires. 

It  was  growing  dusk  ;  the  latter  part 


RAILROADING  IN  VENEZUELA      129 

of  the  journey  had  been  rather  lone- 
some, travelling  over  the  great  rolling 
country.  I  knew  comparatively  little 
of  the  places  I  was  about  to  visit,  and 
with  the  vague  rumors  of  yellow  fever 
still  in  my  ears,  I  began'  to  wish  that  I 
were  back  in  Chicago  or  New  York. 
At  the  last  station  the  passengers  sit- 
ting behind  me  vacated  their  seats. 
While  meditating  in  this  way  I  did  not 
at  first  notice  a  new  passenger.  After 
a  little,  the  car  coming  to  a  stop  with 
an  abrupt  jerk,  I  turned  around.  I 
could  not  see  the  man's  face,  as  it  was 
covered  by  a  newspaper  he  was  reading, 
but  there  appeared  in  large  heavy  print 
on  the  side  of  the  sheet  facing  me  the 
words  :  "  The  Chicago  Sunday  Trib- 
une" Having  met  but  few  Americans 
since  my  arrival  in  Venezuela,  to  be 
confronted  during  this  day-dream  of 
mine  by  a  man  who,  ten  chances  to 
one,  was  from  the  same  city  as  myself, 
was  indeed  a  queer  coincidence.  In 


130    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

true  American  style,  I  reached  over  and 
presented  my  card,  and  soon  was  in 
conversation  with  Mr.  Russell,  an 
American  from  Chicago  travelling  in 
Venezuela. 


XXII. 


VALENCIA      AND       PUERTO       CABELLO 

FROM    THE    MOUNTAINS    TO  THE    SEA 

F^  ARKNESS  has  covered  the  country 
*^  and  only  after  long  intervals  there 
shines  out  a  faint  gleam  from  some 
miserable  hut.  The  train  rushes  on 
through  the  wilderness  for  hours,  until 
far  off  in  the  distance  below  us  appear 
the  many  lights  of  the  city  of  Valencia. 

With  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the 
noisy  rumbling  of  the  cars  the  train 
rushes  into  the  station.  This  is  the 
terminal  of  the  German  railroad  be- 
tween Caracas  and  Valencia. 

The  keeper  of  the  hotel,  a  good- 
natured,  stout  Spanish  woman,  gave  me 
the  key  to  my  apartments,  and  it  was 
131 


132     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

so  large  and  heavy  that,  while  passing 
through  the  dark,  cold  stone  halls,  I 
could  not  help  thinking  what  a  useful 
weapon  of  defence  it  would  be  in  case 
of  necessity.  The  hotels  are  seldom 
more  than  two  stories  high,  and  this  one 
was  no  exception.  A  military  band 
was  playing  a  Spanish  air  in  the  plaza 
opposite,  while  the  inevitable  senoritas, 
robed  in  their  attractive  gowns,  prome- 
naded leisurely  about.  Bringing  a  large 
easy  chair  out  on  the  veranda  outside 
my  apartments,  I  lighted  my  pipe  and 
enjoyed  the  unique  surroundings  of  my 
first  night  in  Valencia. 

Soon  afterwards  I  was  asleep  on  the 
typical  bed  of  South  America.  It  had 
a  canopy  at  the  top  from  which  fine  net- 
ting hung  down  around  the  four  sides. 
When  the  sleeper  is  comfortably  situated 
for  the  night  this  is  tucked  in  at  the  sides 
of  the  bed,  thus  forming  a  protection 
from  the  mosquitoes,  gnats,  and  other 
insects  so  disagreeable  in  the  South. 


VALENCIA  AND  PUERTO  CABELLO  133 

In  a  book  I  had  recently  read  on 
Venezuela  the  writer  said  that  Valencia 
is  the  most  beautiful  city  in  South 
America,  or  at  least  in  Venezuela.  I 
dissent  entirely.  I  think  Caracas  by 
far  the  grander,  owing  chiefly  to  its 
situation,  although  Valencia  is  by  no 
means  to  be  despised.  Surrounding  the 
entire  city  loom  up  the  great  crests  of 
the  Cordillera  Range,  while  in  the  farther 
distance,  reflecting  the  sun,  are  the 
higher  mountains. 

One  South  American  city  is  very 
much  like  another.  The  market-places 
are  interesting  features  of  all.  So  are 
the  churches,  the  pleasant  parks,  and 
those  oddities  which  have  been  men- 
tioned in  previous  chapters.  The  better 
residence  section  of  Valencia  is  situated 
in  a  suburban  district  about  two  miles 
away.  Connecting  this  with  the  main 
city  are  small  tramway  cars  drawn  by 
mules,  which  a  peon  causes  to  gallop 
along  in  the  hot  sun,  thus  making  good 


134     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

speed  between  the  two  places.  Here 
there  are  very  many  pretty  villas  sur- 
rounded by  parks.  Even  the  most 
ordinary  of  these  presents  an  attractive 
appearance. 

There  are  always  some  soldiers  to  be 
seen  in  Valencia.  The  uniform  of  the 
Venezuelan  soldiers  consists  of  bright 
red  trousers  and  a  short  blue  coat. 
Usually  these  warriors  present  anything 
but  an  impressive  appearance,  for  they 
pay  little  attention  to  their  attire  or 
the  way  they  carry  themselves.  The 
equipment  of  the  president's  guard  dif- 
fers to  the  extent  of  wearing  white  duck 
suits  and  high  black  boots,  with  a  short 
sabre  and  carbine. 

There  are  direct  lines  of  communica- 
tion connecting  Valencia  with  the  other 
principal  cities  of  Venezuela.  The 
Bank  of  Venezuela  has  a  branch  in 
Valencia.  The  city  has  many  large 
mercantile  houses  and  warehouses  of 
importance,  for  in  the  immediate  neigh- 


VALENCIA  AND  PUERTO  CABELLO  135 

borhood  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  sec- 
tions of  Venezuela. 

To  the  westward  and  farther  south 
the  country  is  still  largely  unknown. 
Vast  forests  and  jungles,  the  home  of 
the  leopard  and  panther,  occupy  much 
of  the  territory. 

Valencia  is  the  second  city  of  the 
Republic  in  size,  and  has  about  forty 
thousand  inhabitants. 

After  spending  a  few  days  in  this 
beautiful  city,  I  left  one  afternoon  on 
the  railroad  for  Puerto  Cabello,  the  sea- 
port town  of  this  part  of  Venezuela. 
From  thence  the  boat  sails  to  the  wild 
district  of  Maracaibo,  from  which  place 
connections  are  made  with  steamers 
sailing  eastward  along  the  Spanish  Main 
and  Trinidad  to  the  Orinoco. 

The  railroad  connecting  Valencia 
with  the  seaport  town  of  Puerto  Cabello 
is  owned  and  controlled  by  British  capi- 
talists. While  the  engineering  and  con- 
struction are  less  daring  than  those  of 


136     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

the  road  between  La  Guayra  and  Cara^, 
cas,  still  the  region  which  it  traverses 
is  one  of  grandeur. 

On  the  verge  of  this  mountainous 
district,  where  the  coffee  plant  covers 
the  slopes  and  the  cocoa  is  cultivated 
in  the  valleys  to  perfection,  is  the  inter- 
esting village  of  San  Esteban.  It  has 
been  founded  principally  by  the  Ger- 
man population  of  Puerto  Cabello,  and 
here,  within  a  short  distance  from  the 
city,  the  wealthy  people  of  Puerto 
Cabello  have  their  homes,  preferring  the 
delightfully  cool  climate  found  here  to 
the  hot  and  unhealthy  coast  regions. 

It  was  towards  nine  o'clock  when  the 
train  reached  Puerto  Cabello.  The 
most  notable  part  of  the  journey  is  the 
gradual  rise  of  the  thermometer  until, 
on  reaching  the  city  itself,  the  heat  is 
almost  suffocating.  Situated  as  it  is  in 
an  indentation  of  the  coast,  where  the 
winds  cannot  reach  it,  the  heat  is  some- 
thing terrific. 


VALENCIA  AND  PUERTO  CABELLO  137 

Puerto  Cabello,  the  Spanish  for  the 
queer  title,  The  Port  of  a  Hair,  is  so 
called  on  the  pretence  that  within  its 
safe  harbors  a  ship  might  almost  be  tied 
by  so  frail  a  tether  as  a  hair.  This  is 
one  of  the  few  places  on  the  coast  where 
a  boat  can  draw  up  alongside  the  pier. 
It  is  a  busy  place,  about  fifteen  million 
pounds  of  coffee,  to  mention  one  thing, 
being  shipped  annually.  It  is  the  second 
port  in  commercial  importance  in  Vene- 
zuela. Of  its  inhabitants,  about  seven 
thousand  in  number  are  mainly  engaged 
in  the  commerce  of  the  exporters  and 
importers.  Eight  different  steamship 
lines  ply  regularly  between  this  port  and 
England,  France,  Germany,  Holland, 
the  United  States,  and  the  West  Indes. 
There  are  many  Germans,  as  well  as 
other  foreigners,  among  the  residents. 
Puerto  Cabello  has  been  made  interest- 
ing by  the  many  thrilling  incidents  be- 
fore and  during  the  Revolution.  It  was 
in  this  hot  territory  that  Sir  Francis 


138     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

Drake,  the  great  English  buccaneer, 
after  exploring  the  coast,  succumbed  to 
yellow  fever. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  nearly 
opposite  the  city,  is  the  old  fort  where 
Simon  Bolivar,  the  Liberator  of  Vene- 
zuela, was  placed  in  command  when 
twenty-six  years  of  age  by  General 
Miranda,  who  was  then  leading  the 
country  in  its  first  struggle  for  liberty. 
In  the  dark  dungeons  of  the  fort  were 
gathered  the  Spanish  prisoners  and 
officials  seized  by  the  revolutionary 
party.  Bolivar  had  a  sub-lieutenant  in 
whom  he  placed  great  confidence.  It 
was  the  treachery  of  this  man  that 
caused  Bolivar  his  first  misfortune. 
The  lieutenant  was  bought  over  by  the 
other  party,  and  one  night  let  the  pris- 
oners free.  Young  Bolivar  escaped  in 
the  nick  of  time,  and  after  swimming 
several  miles  to  shore,  found  refuge  in 
a  hut  farther  down  the  coast,  while  all 
the  ammunition  and  arms  captured  by 


VALENCIA  AND  PUERTO  CABELLO  139 

the  insurgents  again  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  Spaniards.  Part  of  the  fort  is 
now  used  as  a  prison  and  hospital,  and 
another  portion  of  it  as  a  barrack,  where 
a  handful  of  soldiers  are  stationed.  It 
is  situated  on  a  low  island,  on  the 
borders  of  which  grow  palms  and  under- 
brush. To  this  place  I  saw  consigned 
every  evening  gangs  of  criminals  whose 
feet  were  chained  and  weighted  by 
great  iron  balls  to  prevent  them  from 
escaping  during  the  time  they  were  at 
work  sweeping  the  streets,  building, 
dredging,  or  such  other  labors  as  might 
be  assigned  to  them. 

With  the  quaint  City  of  Puerto 
Cabello  to  our  left,  and  the  fort  to  our 
right,  one  evening  the  cables  are  silently 
lifted  from  the  pier  and  our  boat  glides 
out  to  the  open  sea. 


XXIII. 

LAKE   MARACAIBO     TO     THE   ORINOCO 

ALONG    THE    SPANISH    MAIN 

CROM  Puerto  Cabello  the  Red  "  D  " 
*•  line  sends  a  small  steamer  west- 
ward, skirting  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
Venezuela  for  some  miles  until  the 
strait  of  Maracaibo  is  reached,  entering 
which,  and  turning  southward,  the  boat 
finds  its  way  into  the  lake  of  Mara- 
caibo, 

This  lake  is  a  magnificent  body  of 
fresh  water  with  an  area  of  two  thou- 
sand square  miles.  The  basin  is  almost 
anywhere  navigable  for  small  vessels. 
The  town  of  Maracaibo,  situated  on  the 
western  side  of  the  strait  which  forms 
the  entrance  to  the  lake,  is  the  emporium 
140 


ALONG  THE  SPANISH  MAIN         141 

of  the  whole  region  of  the  eastern  Cor- 
dilleras, including  districts  in  Colombia. 

At  the  close  of  the  i5th  century, 
when  the  spirit  of  adventure  and  ro- 
mance filled  the  heart  of  every  grandee 
of  Spain  and  every  Italian  navigator — 
in  those  grand  old  days,  Americus  Ves- 
pucci sailed  across  the  sea  in  search  of 
new  lands.  After  coasting  the  shore  he 
entered  this  beautiful  strait  and  found 
there,  built  on  piles  and  rafts,  a  strange 
city,  where  the  natives  were  paddling 
about  in  canoes.  It  reminded  the  ex- 
plorer so  much  of  the  city  of  Venice,  in 
his  native  Italy,  that  he  called  it  Little 
Venice,  since  altered  to  Venezuela. 
Even  now,  situated  a  little  distance 
from  Maracaibo,  the  city  Vespucci  de- 
scribed, is  another  city  called  Santa 
Rosa,  where  the  natives  still  build  their 
houses  on  rafts,  like  those  of  the  lake 
regions  around  the  City  of  Mexico. 

There  is  nothing  of  special  interest 
about  Maracaibo.  It  is  a  city  of  thirty 


142     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

thousand  inhabitants,  and  of  consider- 
able commercial  importance.  The  riv- 
ers of  the  United  States  of  Colombia 
flow  into  the  lake,  and  these  rivers  and 
good  mule-roads  make  it  a  centre  of 
commerce.  Among  the  notable  build- 
ings are  the  palace  of  the  governor,  the 
federal  college,  custom-house,  market- 
place, theatre,  and  churches.  The  city 
has  about  ten  miles  of  street  railway, 
and  in  sharp  contrast  with  its  romantic 
surroundings  are  abundant  telephones 
and  electric  lights. 

Some  distance  inward,  back  of  Mara- 
caibo,  is  a  town  called  Santa  Marta, 
behind  which  rises  the  Nevada  peak, 
said  to  be  the  highest  on  the  coast. 
This  is  the  most  easterly  port  of  Colom- 
bia, and  is  noteworthy  from  the  fact 
that  Bolivar  took  refuge  and  died  here 
when  driven  into  exile  by  Paez. 

Leaving  Maracaibo,  the  boat  sails 
eastward  for  several  days  along  the 
Spanish  Main.  Passing  between  the 


ALONG  THE  SPANISH  MAIN          143 

island  of  Curasao  and  Venezuela,  and 
again-  sailing  by  the  towns  of  Puerto 
Cabello  and  La  Guayra,  the  steamer  en- 
tered the  beautiful  straits  separating  the 
island  of  Margarita  from  the  peninsula 
of  Paria.  This  island  has  been  made 
famous  to  the  world  for  the  numerous 
beautiful  pearls  found  along  its  coast. 
Here  the  Indians  in  olden  times,  with 
their  crude  diving  apparatus,  risked 
their  lives  in  waters  infested  by  sharks 
and  other  man-eating  fish,  to  carry  on 
trade  with  the  foreigners  for  articles 
which  they  valued  more  than  pearls. 

Some  hours  after  sailing  by  this  beau- 
tiful mountainous  island  of  Margarita 
the  boat  entered  the  capital  of  Trini- 
dad, Port  au  Spain,  which  we  had  vis- 
ited on  our  downward  cruise.  From 
here  a  small  side-wheel  American  boat, 
such  as  are  used  on  the  Mississippi 
and  other  Western  rivers,  left  Port  au 
Spain,  and  steamed  through  the  bay 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco,  several 


144    VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

days  later  reaching  Ciudad  Bolivar.  The 
boats  are  owned  by  North  Americans 
and  are  manned  by  American  crews. 

It  is  only  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
journey  to  Ciudad  Bolivar  that  one  be- 
gins to  realize  the  beauty  of  this  ro- 
mantic river,  and  not  until  many  miles 
farther  up  does  it  attain  its  highest 
grandeur.  On  entering  the  mouth  the 
banks  are  low  and  marshy.  Great  forests 
extend  back  on  either  side  for  many 
miles.  Once  in  a  while  one  sees  vil- 
lages built  upon  piles  in  the  marshes, 
the  sides  of  the  houses  composed  of 
thatched  leaves,  and  roofed  with  bark, 
where  those  simple  people  live  who  lead 
a  wild  adventurous  life  in  canoes  on 
the  waters. 

The  time  required  to  make  the  jour- 
ney to  Ciudad  Bolivar  depends  upon  the 
season  of  the  year.  Between  May  and 
October,  when  there  is  a  rise  in  the  river 
of  many  feet,  navigation  is  much  easier 
than  at  low  water,  and  the  time  required 


ALONG  THE  SPANISH  MAIN         145 

is  three  days.  During  the  dry  season 
much  more  time  is  necessary. 

Ciudad  Bolivar  is  situated  240  miles 
from  the  sea,  where  the  river  is  four 
and  a  half  miles  wide  and  navigable  for 
steamers.  It  is  very  like  to  the  other 
Venezuelan  cities.  The  volume  of  busi- 
ness is  enormous  compared  with  the 
population  of  the  country. 

In  the  last  few  years  the  export  of 
gold  has  been  valued  high  in  the 
millions.  Cigar  manufacturing  is  carried 
on  to  a  large  extent.  Great  warehouses 
containing  stores  from  the  interior  give 
evidence  of  its  commercial  importance. 

Ciudad  Bolivar  is  the  only  city  prop- 
erly speaking  in  a  district  covering  half 
the  territory  of  Venezuela.  The  resi- 
dents are  Spanish,  German,  Italian,  and 
negroes  from  the  Indies.  All  there  is 
of  interest  here  can  be  seen  in  a  few 
days. 

Flowing  into  the  Orinoco  at  various 
distances  are  many  streams,  some  deep 


146     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

and  extending  far  into  the  mountains. 
One,  the  Meta,  flows  within  two  days'  dis- 
tance of  Bogota,  the  capital  of  Colom- 
bia, and  is  so  far  navigable  for  small 
boats.  Another,  the  Cassiquiare,  flows 
towards  the  Amazon,  and  by  a  sort  of 
natural  canal,  actually  connects  the 
Amazon  with  the  Orinoco,  so  that  a 
small  boat  entering  the  Gulf  of  Paria, 
which  is  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco, 
can  work  its  way  up  the  Orinoco  and 
come  out  through  the  mouth  of  the 
Amazon. 

Baron  von  Humboldt  in  1808  made  a 
journey  along  the  entire  course  of  the 
Orinoco.  In  1848  Dr.  Schomburgk 
made  a  careful  journey  of  investiga- 
tion, and  wrote  a  very  extended  and 
valuable  book  on  the  country.  This 
book  with  its  maps  has  come  into  ques- 
tion frequently  during  the  recent  con- 
troversy over  the  disputed  territory. 

Bordering  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco 
for  many  miles  are  the  jungles  and 


A   TROPICAL  FOREST,   VENEZUELA. 


ALONG  THE  SPANISH  MAIN          147 

forests  of  South  America,  inhabited  by 
uncivilized  and  aboriginal  Indians.  Be- 
yond the  forests  spread  out  the  llanos 
or  grassy  plains  whereupon  feed  many 
thousand  cattle  of  South  America,  which 
are  herded  by  adventurous  cow-boys. 

To  the  south,  midway  between  Boli- 
var and  the  mouth  of  the  river,  are  the 
mining  districts.  The  gold  here  dis- 
covered has  given  rise  to  the  contro- 
versies between  Great  Britain  and 
Venezuela  over  the  boundary  question. 


XXIV. 

THE   DISPUTED    TERRITORY. 

EVER  since  the  time  when  South 
America's  wealth  in  gold  was  first 
reported  abroad  by  Columbus,  Raleigh, 
Vespucci,  and  others,  more  especially 
since  the  story  of  Gonzales  Ximenes  de 
Casada,  the  thirst  for  this  precious 
mineral  has  brought  many  seekers  after 
fortune  into  the  wilds  of  South  America. 
Casada  was  an  officer  sent  out  by 
the  Viceroy  of  Peru,  with  other  officers, 
in  charge  of  the  expedition  to  search 
for  the  El  Dorado  of  the  Orinoco.  He 
was  a  treacherous  man  of  mean  char- 
acter. After  engaging  a  few  of  the 
party  to  mutiny  with  him,  he  stole  away 
from  camp  one  night  and  with  the 
148 


AMONG  THE  BAMBOOS,  VENEZUELA. 


THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY          149 

canoes  and  ammunition  of  the  expedi- 
tion floated  down  the  Orinoco.  Gain- 
ing the  coast  after  many  months,  he 
made  his  way  to  Europe,  where  he  re- 
ported himself  as  having  found  the  El 
Dorado  of  which  all  the  world  was  in 
search.  He  reported  that  the  city  of 
Manoah  was  literally  built  of  gold, 
which  story  caused  a  great  fever  of  ex- 
citement, not  only  among  the  general 
population  of  Europe,  but  also  in  its 
courts  and  among  its  noblemen. 

Prior  to  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Gui- 
ana in  1880,  all  efforts  to  find  it  were 
unsuccessful.  In  the  i6th  and  i;th 
centuries,  when  the  wealth  of  the  region 
south  of  the  Orinoco,  in  what  is  now 
known  to  us  as  the  Disputed  Territory 
was  comparatively  unknown  and  its 
vast  resources  unexplored,  there  was 
no  occasion  for  any  boundary  disputes. 

We  hear  of  gold  mining  along  the 
Essequibo  and  its  tributaries  a  hundred 
years  ago  by  the  Dutch,  but  it  amounted 


150     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

to  little.  In  1856  a  deposit  was  dis- 
covered which  caused  several  companies 
to  explore  ;  they  also  were  unsuccessful 
and  the  search  was  abandoned.  Then 
nothing  of  importance  was  done  until 
1880,  when  a  party  of  French  laborers 
from  French  Guiana  found  rich  de- 
posits in  the  sands  of  the  Puruni  River, 
a  branch  of  the  Essequibo.  This  caused 
a  rush  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
people  from  California,  Capetown,  and 
the  continent  of  Europe  swarmed  into 
the  territory. 

From  that  time  until  the  present,  new 
discoveries  have  been  constantly  made, 
and  some  of  the  resources  of  the  coun- 
try brought  to  view,  so  that  the  question 
whether  this  territory  belongs  to  Vene- 
zuela or  Great  Britain  is  now  of  serious 
moment.  A  country  which  can  export, 
as  the  duties  show,  from  the  city  of 
Bolivar  alone,  thirty-nine  million  dol- 
lars' worth  of  gold  in  a  few  years  is 
truly  of  no  little  importance. 


THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY          151 

There  are  many  American  and  Eng- 
lish people,  as  well  as  other  foreigners, 
living  in  the  mining  district,  although 
the  negroes  do  most  of  the  hard  labor 
in  the  mines,  being  best  suited  to  en- 
dure the  fevers  of  the  district  and  the 
labor  necessary  in  the  severe  work  of 
mining. 

The  colonial  authorities  of  the  Brit- 
ish Government  have  quietly  occupied 
this  territory  and  have  been  encour- 
aged. 

Great  Britain  usually  has  a  gunboat 
floating  on  the  lower  Orinoco.  Whether 
the  river  itself  belongs  to  Great  Britain 
or  Venezuela  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
questioned,  as  it  appears  that  Great 
Britain  rather  acknowledged  Venezuela 
in  this  respect  by  requesting  her,  some 
years  ago,  through  the  British  minister 
at  Caracas,  to  build  a  lighthouse  on  one 
of  the  islands. 

The  controversy  grew  out  of  condi- 
tions that  arose  in  1691  when  a  treaty 


152     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

was  signed  between  Spain  and  Holland 
stipulating  that  the  Orinoco  colonies 
should  belong  to  the  Spanish  and  the 
Essequibo  colonies  to  the  Dutch.  This 
territory  was  practically  unknown  at  the 
time.  In  1814  Holland  ceded  to  Eng- 
land that  part  of  Guiana  now  called 
British  Guiana. 

The  question  hinges  greatly  upon 
the  settlement  between  these  two  nations 
of  what  properly  belonged  in  those  early 
times  to  Holland  and  what  to  Spain. 

Venezuela  now  claims  the  sovereignty 
over  a  territory  of  36,000  square  miles 
which  Great  Britain  considers  as  belong- 
ing to  her  colony  of  Guiana. 

Through  the  medium  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  the  controversy  over  the  Dis- 
puted Territory  has  been  brought  into 
prominence  throughout  the  United 
States.  It  is  a  question  of  vital  im- 
portance, not  only  between  the  contend- 
ing powers, Venezuela  and  Great  Britain, 
but  between  England  and  the  great  re- 


THE  DISPUTED  TERRITORY         153 

public  of  America.  The  United  States, 
like  its  emblem  the  eagle,  which  extends 
its  broad  wings  to  protect  its  young  from 
harm  or  disturbance,  has  taken  the  posi- 
tion of  affording  its  protection  to  all  the 
younger  countries  of  the  American  con- 
tinent. 


XXV. 

DREAMS   OF    THE    FUTURE. 

A  MID  the  charms  of  a  moonlight 
**•  night,  let  us  imagine  ourselves 
seated  on  deck,  quietly  floating  down 
the  Orinoco.  The  rays  of  the  moon 
reflected  on  the  waters  turn  them  into 
a  stream  of  pure  silver.  The  deep 
forests  on  either  side  respond  with 
gentle  sighs  to  the  caressing  of  the  even- 
ing winds.  Were  it  not  for  the  splash- 
ing of  an  alligator  as  he  falls  heavily 
into  the  water,  or  the  weird  cry  of  a 
strange  bird  in  his  upward  flight,  the 
quiet  of  the  scene  would  be  undisturbed. 
It  must  have  been  on  such  a  night  as 
this,  that  Ursua  and  his  generous  love 
Inez  met  their  untimely  and  tragic  death 


DREAMS  OF  THE  FUTURE  155 

while  floating  amid  love's  caresses  on 
this  same  river.  With  our  thoughts  thus 
given  to  the  adventurous  past,  we  yet 
speculate  on  the  destiny  of  this  beautiful 
land.  As  the  smoke  from  my  pipe  curls 
itself  into  wreaths,  scenes  from  the  past 
and  dreams  of  the  future  float  before  my 
mind.  I  see  armed  men,  covered  with 
steel,  following  a  bold,  handsome  leader, 
a  Spanish  knight.  Perchance  it  might 
be  Ojeda,  flourishing  in  the  kind  graces 
of  Queen  Isabel. 

Alas !  this  expedition,  like  so  many 
others  eager  in  the  quest  of  the  riches 
of  El  Dorado,  cared  nought  for  the 
prayers  and  offerings  of  the  innocent 
Indians,  who  greeted  the  strangers  with 
respect,  thinking  them  gods  from  the 
blue  sky  above.  The  minds  of  the 
invaders  being  accustomed  to  the 
cruelties  of  war,  they  return  such  treat- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Indians  with 
butchery  and  crime. 

The  fever  of  adventure  having  taken 


156     VENEZUELA  AND  WEST  INDIES 

possession  of  the  Continent,  many 
knights  and  adventurers  seek  the  south- 
ern land.  A  century  has  not  elapsed 
before  the  banner  bearing  the  arms  of 
Castile  and  Aragon  proudly  floats  over 
the  land  in  many  places. 

I  see  enacted  before  me  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country  with  circumstances 
of  direst  cruelty,  and  as  the  scene  be- 
fore me  alters  it  is  but  a  transition  from 
crime  to  crime.  After  the  fighting 
against  these  innocent  Indians  rose  the 
bitter  struggles  and  contest  of  the  Span- 
ish colonists  against  their  unprincipled 
and  tyrannical  rulers. 

It  would  seem  that  the  upheaving  of 
the  mighty  mountains  was  only  to  show 
their  sympathy  for  the  colonists.  The 
very  groaning  of  the  great  Andes  is 
echoed  by  the  colonists  under  these  op- 
pressions, and,  like  the  mountains  them- 
selves, tired  of  the  tyrannical  choking, 
they  show  forth  their  nature  by  a  series 
of  uprisings  in  the  form  of  revolutions. 


DREAMS  OF  THE  FUTURE     157 

Some  years  afterwards  the  cool  air 
of  the  Andes  moderates  the  fever  and 
excitement  ;  but  it  is  not  until  the  germ 
of  a  republic  has  been  planted.  I  see 
this  germ  growing  into  a  mighty  tree  of 
state,  the  roots  of  which  have  fastened 
into  a  pure  and  honorable  soil.  This 
tree  of  state  will  in  time  cast  a  shade  of 
protection  and  peace  over  its  people. 
This  mighty  tree,  called  Venezuela, 
embedded  in  a  soil  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity, is  one  of  a  grove  of  similar 
South  American  republics  still  being 
nourished  in  their  youth.  In  time  the 
roots  of  these  trees  will  become  grown 
together  and  intertwined,  giving  forth 
nourishment  and  strength  to  each  other 
and  producing  the  rich  fruits  of  peace, 
happiness,  civilization,  and  progress. 

THE   END. 


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